Connie Woodward on wed 5 nov 03
Normally I fire a gas kiln, but I was given an Cress Electric by a friend
that was moving and I thought it would be really good to use for bisque
firing. She said it was working the last time she had used it, but it had
not been used in 2 years, just sitting in her garage.
I got all the wiring done for it, and plugged it in, and the bottom section
coils do not ever glow red, the top section seems to work ok. The bottom
section controller light comes on, and it makes the pops and hums like it
normally would make.
I need help trying to troubleshoot and fix this, I'm pretty good with
multi-meter and wiring stuff, but I'm not sure where to start and 220 kind
of scares me so I don=B9t want to run off blindly. I live way way way out in
the country so having a kiln repair person come out is not an option.
Please can someone walk me through what's needed? I'm guess something has
either come loose in the moving of it, or a connection gotten corroded whil=
e
it was sitting up.
thanks so much
Connie
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Connie Woodward Karattopp Pottery www.karattopp.com
Navasota, TX 713-256-5907
BobWicks@AOL.COM on wed 5 nov 03
In a message dated 11/5/2003 8:33:23 PM Eastern Standard Time,
connie@KARATTOPP.COM writes:
Connie
After a kiln has been fired several times the coils become brittle so I
suspect that your bottom element is broken. Try this. Take a small piece of paper
towel (KILN OFF) and place it next to the bottom coil. Then turn all
switches to high. If the bottom element is not functioning or is broken the paper
will not burn. If it is OK, it will burn. I think you have a broken element.
You can order a new element from the company that makes the kiln. When you
get the new element, I can walk you through the process of replacing it.
If the paper does not burn, unplug the kiln and open the box where the coils
are connected. You can easily see it the connection is secure. Then proceed
to remove the broken coil. You will surely see where the break is located.
Using a rule, measure the length of the coil after you have it removed. When
you get the new coil, just stretch the new coil so it matches the length of the
old one. From there on it is very simple. Just hook up the new coil just as
the old one was.
I have maintained the college kilns for 25 years and did all of the
maintenance myself and never had to have anyone come in. You shooed have no trouble.
Let me know if I can be of any further help. Good Luck
Bob Wicks, Prof Emeritus
Harrisburg Area Community College
Arnold Howard on mon 10 nov 03
Connie, is there a way to turn only the bottom section on? If so, the
humming sound with only bottom section on would indicate that the bottom
elements are running.
However, it sounds like elements are burned out. The humming is probably
from the top section elements.
You should obtain a wiring diagram for your kiln from Cress. It is a
great help in understanding how the kiln works. I would unplug the kiln,
open the switch box, and explore the kiln with the aid of the diagram.
If you are not familiar with wiring diagrams, you will probably still be
able to follow the one for your kiln. That's because kilns are
surprisingly simple in design--even digital kilns.
As you inspect the kiln's switch box, compare the wiring diagram with
the actual wiring in the kiln. Make sure all the wires are tightly
connected to their terminals. The problem may very well be nothing more
than a disconnected wire. I've seen that happen. It could also be wires
on the wrong terminals.
If a push-on connector is loose, remove the wire, squeeze the terminal
with pliers, and push it back onto its terminal.
When you install the switch box back onto the kiln, make sure that no
wire is touching an element connector. That can cause a wire to burn out
during firing. Tuck the wires out of the way as you move the switch box
back in place. The wires should be arranged so that they will touch
neither the case nor element connectors when the switch box is fastened
to the kiln.
Other than those pointers, it is difficult to help troubleshoot your
kiln without knowing what type of operating system you have.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P.
arnoldhoward@att.net
-------------------
From: "Connie Woodward"
Normally I fire a gas kiln, but I was given an Cress Electric by a
friend
that was moving and I thought it would be really good to use for bisque
firing. She said it was working the last time she had used it, but it
had
not been used in 2 years, just sitting in her garage.
I got all the wiring done for it, and plugged it in, and the bottom
section
coils do not ever glow red, the top section seems to work ok. The bottom
section controller light comes on, and it makes the pops and hums like
it
normally would make.
BobWicks@AOL.COM on fri 14 nov 03
In a message dated 11/5/2003 8:33:23 PM Eastern Standard Time,
connie@KARATTOPP.COM writes:
Connie
After a kiln has been fired several times the coils become brittle so I
suspect that your bottom element is broken. Try this. Take a small piece of paper
towel (KILN OFF) and place it next to the bottom coil. Then turn all
switches to high. If the bottom element is not functioning or is broken the paper
will not burn. If it is OK, it will burn. I think you have a broken element.
You can order a new element from the company that makes the kiln. When you
get the new element, I can walk you through the process of replacing it.
If the paper does not burn, unplug the kiln and open the box where the coils
are connected. You can easily see if the connection are secure. Then proceed
to remove the broken coil. You will surely see where the break is located.
Using a rule, measure the length of the coil after you have it removed. When
you get the new coil, just stretch the new coil so it matches the length of
the old one. From there on it is very simple. Just hook up the new coil just
as the old one was.
I have maintained the college kilns for 25 years and did all of the
maintenance myself and never had to have anyone come in. You should have no trouble.
Let me know if I can be of any further help. Good Luck
Bob Wicks, Prof Emeritus
Harrisburg Area Community College
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