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glazus interruptus - kiln meltdown

updated sun 21 sep 03

 

Gillian Whittle on sat 20 sep 03


I would definitely second Ron's advice not to leave a computer-controlled
kiln to shut down on its own.
A few years ago we had a kiln meltdown at Devon House Clay Studio as a
result of not supervising the
kiln when it reached temperature. The result was a very, very big mess and a
ruined kiln. We were lucky it
didn't cause a fire.

Gillian Whittle
Lupin Lane Pottery
St. John's, NL

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Roy"
Subject: Re: Glazus Interruptus


> It's because most kilns are in or close to where people live - and they do
> burn down houses. It is defiantly unwise to trust any automatic shut off
> device - when a firing is over the electricity should be shut off at a
main
> breaker.
>
> Cones need to be checked during the final stages of firing anyway.
>
> There are many things that can go wrong with electric kilns - connections
> work loose and cause fires, contacts weld themselves shut, plugs burn,
> sitters can fail for a number of reasons. I have seen a piece of a blown
up
> pot stop the cone rod from dropping for instance.
>
> I would never leave any kiln to shut off while I am not there - seen too
> many disasters to take a chance like that - learned my lesson my first
year
> in Art College.
>
> RR
>
>
> >I can't see why some are so uptight about leaving a computer
> >controlled kiln to its lonesome while it fires and stops.
>