Penni Stoddart on fri 14 mar 03
Called our guild Pres. who also happens to be a kiln guru and good friend.
He use d to build the things for Stratford clay here in Ontario.
ANYWAY....... Chris discovered I had blown a fuse then figured out it was
because wires were cracked (the thermal wires from the switches to the
elements). He replaced the worst two (the ones that were cracked through),
snugged up the sleeves that hold the elements and wires together and checked
everything over throughly. Hubby and I bought several new tube fuses (I
think that's what they're called!), replaced the blown one and we are off to
the races.
The kiln is on now, on low. I intend to go out before I head to bed and pop
it on high. I have never fired through the night before but figure it is no
more hazardess then firing during the day when we are all off at work or
school and the kiln is unattended.
I'll let you all know how it goes - cause I know you're on the edge of your
seat waiting to hear!!!!
Thanks for the advice and help offered.
Penni
in London Ontario looking VERY forward to the projected highs of plus
anything this weekend! As long as it ain't a minus degree, I'm a happy
camper =o)
Penni Stoddart on tue 18 mar 03
Penni, if you fire your kiln while you are asleep or away, and it
overfires, you could lose your kiln. I've heard of kilns that overfired
so badly that they were not worth repairing.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P.
www.paragonweb.com
Arnold,
Point taken.
In both instances (both night time and when at work) the kiln is put on high
for only a short number of hours before it is checked on.
In the case of that first over night firing, I set my alarm early (around
the time I thought it should be shut down), went out in my jammies and
checked to find it okay and off. Then I went back to bed with my cold feet
which hubby grudgingly warmed up for me =o)
When at work I am home early afternoon and it is still on, shuts down around
dinner time.
I never fire if I am not going to be around at the projected shut off time
to check the witness cones.
We had a kiln over fire big time at our guild studio and lost the lid to a
brand new kiln. Had to replace it. Never mind the number of guild members
who lost work in that disaster.
Thanks for the reminder.
Smile!
=o) =o) =o) =o) =o) =o) =o)
Penni Stoddart
of Penelope's Pots
Full Time Education Assistant,
Part Time Potter
I live in my own little world.....but it's okay, they all know me here.
"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for
that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar."
* Drew Carey
Arnold Howard on tue 18 mar 03
Penni, if you fire your kiln while you are asleep or away, and it
overfires, you could lose your kiln. I've heard of kilns that overfired
so badly that they were not worth repairing.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P.
www.paragonweb.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Penni Stoddart
> The kiln is on now, on low. I intend to go out before I head to bed
and pop
> it on high. I have never fired through the night before but figure it
is no
> more hazardess then firing during the day when we are all off at work
or
> school and the kiln is unattended.
Elizabeth Fisher on wed 19 mar 03
Just a thought - can't you set a timer on the electrical connection
to shut off at a certain time?
>Penni, if you fire your kiln while you are asleep or away, and it
>overfires, you could lose your kiln. I've heard of kilns that overfired
>so badly that they were not worth repairing.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Arnold Howard
>Paragon Industries, L.P.
>www.paragonweb.com
>
>Arnold,
>
>Point taken.
>In both instances (both night time and when at work) the kiln is put on high
>for only a short number of hours before it is checked on.
>In the case of that first over night firing, I set my alarm early (around
>the time I thought it should be shut down), went out in my jammies and
>checked to find it okay and off. Then I went back to bed with my cold feet
>which hubby grudgingly warmed up for me =o)
>When at work I am home early afternoon and it is still on, shuts down around
>dinner time.
>I never fire if I am not going to be around at the projected shut off time
>to check the witness cones.
>We had a kiln over fire big time at our guild studio and lost the lid to a
>brand new kiln. Had to replace it. Never mind the number of guild members
>who lost work in that disaster.
>Thanks for the reminder.
>
>Smile!
>=o) =o) =o) =o) =o) =o) =o)
>Penni Stoddart
>of Penelope's Pots
>Full Time Education Assistant,
>Part Time Potter
>
>I live in my own little world.....but it's okay, they all know me here.
>
>"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for
>that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar."
>* Drew Carey
>
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John Rodgers on wed 19 mar 03
Penni,
I had a couple of disasters early in my clay life when I relied on the
kiln sitters to turn off the kiln in the night without my being right
there. Over fired twice, once with porcelain (melted porcelain - what a
mess) and a glaze firing (what a mess) Didn't lose the kilns however.
Most fortunate. So I do not like to be dependent on the auto shutoff
features of kilns. I want to be there when a firing reaches conclusion.
I now have a very old electric kiln - a Crusader ^10- so old that it
has only infinity switches for control. No Computer, no timer, no kiln
sitter. I do have a pyrometer mounted on it. It has 4 tiers of two rows
of coils each, and one infinity switch for each pair of coils. I must
use the eyeball method along with witness cones or shelf cones to tell
me when the firing is complete. To do that I watch my pyrometer until it
is very close then I begin to pull the peephole plug and look at the
cones I have placed near the peephole for viewing. I have learned
through trial and error how to get glorious firings from this kiln.
I fire mostly to cone 6. The procedure I finally worked out is to begin
the firing at night. If I turn the kiln on at 8 pm in the evening, set
the infinity switches to 2 for bisque or 4 for glaze (range 0 through
10), and allow it to candle( can one "candle" an electric kiln??) at
that temperature until morning about 8 am, temperature will be holding
at 200 degrees just shy of glaze temperature. I then turn the switches
to "HI" and finish the firing which takes another 2 hours.. My results
these days are consistent and I have few failures so far as maturing of
the work is concerned. This process has reduced faults such as bubbles,
etc., quite dramatically. I do this firing with the bottom vent plug
removed.
Once the kiln is off. I allow cooling to room temperature with plugs
installed. The cooling is something I have learned to never rush. This
whole process from start to finish takes 36 hours in my kiln.
You might consider working out a similar procedure for yourself. It will
allow you a nights sleep, yet be up and active so you can check on it
as the firing reaches completion.
Good Luck.
John Rodgers
Birmingham, AL
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