Marianne Lombardo on sun 28 dec 03
well, part of the kiln. I can't believe I'm so clumsy! It was humorous =
and provided my family with a good laugh.
This morning was a good time to tackle my first ever "changing of the =
elements" because my son was here to help direct me. I moved the stool =
out of the way, and set the wired extra 8" high top ring of the kiln on =
the basement floor, where the stool used to be. After I removed the =
connectors and pulled the old elements out of the kiln I thought I'd sit =
down and quickly read through the instructions before installing the new =
elements.=20
You guessed it! I sat down, all the way down, and my bottom ended up on =
the floor inside the dang top ring! My son said "did you break any =
bones?" and when I said no he laughed himself silly as he hauled me out =
of my clumsy position up onto my feet. Sheesh, now I've got a huge =
scrape across my arm and lower back, and a very stiff sore back as well. =
Oh well, at least I remembered to unplug the kiln before doing anything =
to it. And the elements all work!
I do have a question though. In a few of the corners, some of the soft =
brick has chipped away and I'm concerned the elements might pop out of =
the channel when heated. Can I use some of the old element wire and =
"pin" the new element in, sort of like a staple? Or will I short the =
element out by doing that? My plastic container of Orton kiln cement has =
all dried up so I would drive 2 hours to get some more to fix the brick.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!
Marianne Lombardo
Omemee, Ontario, Canada
Snail Scott on sun 28 dec 03
At 03:18 PM 12/28/03 -0500, Marianne wrote:
>...In a few of the corners, some of the soft brick has chipped away and
I'm concerned the elements might pop out of the channel when heated. Can I
use some of the old element wire and "pin" the new element in, sort of like
a staple? Or will I short the element out by doing that...
If the chips are small (1"-2") it may not matter
at all. Larger chips in the element channel might
allow the element to escape, or not. In fact, it
may not pop out at all, but you may not want to
wait to find out the 'hard way'. (If you do, and
it does sag, just heat up the element with a torch,
then ease it back in place with a tool before
pinning it.)
A pin made of kanthal wire or (as you suggested) old
element wire will work well to hold them in place.
Don't bother making a 'staple'; unless a huge amount
of the brick is missing, a straight 1 1/2" piece of
wire will suffice to corral the element. If the brick
supporting the element is nearly all gone, making a
hook or staple-shaped pin can allow you to hold the
element in place anyway, but typically this isn't
necessary for mere chips in the channel lip.
Use needle-nose pliers to shove the pin straight
into the remaining brick. If the pin touches the top
of the element channel and slants down and inward to
go between the coils toward the back of the groove,
the element can't go anywhere.
Naturally, you want to put the pin where it's still
in front of the wire but toward the rearward loop of
the spiral, though not accidentally behind the loop
of wire! ;) Does that make any sense?
You can't short out the element unless the pin
touches TWO elements or wires at the same time; hard
to do, really!
-Snail
Marianne Lombardo on sun 28 dec 03
Thanks, Snail! I think I will do this and make sure the elements are secure
before I fire.
Marianne Lombardo
Omemee, Ontario, Canada
> Use needle-nose pliers to shove the pin straight
> into the remaining brick. If the pin touches the top
> of the element channel and slants down and inward to
> go between the coils toward the back of the groove,
> the element can't go anywhere.
>
> Naturally, you want to put the pin where it's still
> in front of the wire but toward the rearward loop of
> the spiral, though not accidentally behind the loop
> of wire! ;) Does that make any sense?
>
> You can't short out the element unless the pin
> touches TWO elements or wires at the same time; hard
> to do, really!
>
Anne Wellings on mon 29 dec 03
On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 13:58:56 -0800, Snail Scott
wrote:
>
>A pin made of kanthal wire or (as you suggested) old
>element wire will work well to hold them in place.
>Don't bother making a 'staple'; unless a huge amount
>of the brick is missing, a straight 1 1/2" piece of
>wire will suffice to corral the element.
I have used these straight pins of kanthal wire (packaged as "element pins"
along with new Skutt elements) to actually pin chunks of broken-off brick
back into place so that they will support the element themselves. This only
works if the chunks are cleanly broken off and fit back in place easily. I
just stick the pins right through the broken chunks into the main body of
brick from which it broke, using more than one pin if necessary. May not be
a permanent fix, but it works.
Also, if this is a manual switch kiln and you replaced all the elements at
the same time, be prepared for it possibly firing MUCH faster than it did
before. Do slower turn-ups, use large witness cones on the shelves, and
keep a close eye on it. I learned this lesson recently with mine!
Anne
Marianne Lombardo on mon 29 dec 03
Hi Anne,
Yes, it is a manual switch kiln, just on/off switches for each element.
Thanks for the warning and I'll be careful and sure to use witness cones on
the shelves.
Marianne Lombardo
Omemee, Ontario, Canada
> Also, if this is a manual switch kiln and you replaced all the elements at
> the same time, be prepared for it possibly firing MUCH faster than it did
> before. Do slower turn-ups, use large witness cones on the shelves, and
> keep a close eye on it. I learned this lesson recently with mine!
Arnold Howard on mon 29 dec 03
Yes, you can use the old element wire to make element staples. Also, when
you cut off the excess element length of a new element, save the element
pieces. The element ends that you cut off are twisted. Untwist the scrap
element ends with pliers and use the pieces as element staples. The spiral
shape helps keep the element pin in the firebricks.
While on the topic of element ends, it is important to cut off the excess
element length when installing a new element. If you do not cut off the
excess element, the element can short out inside the switch box. I have seen
this happen on a kiln that someone brought to the factory for repair.
The element will probably stay in the firebrick corners even if some of the
firebrick has chipped away. The main thing is that the element must be
pushed all the way to the back of each corner. If the element is allowed to
come out of the corners during installation, it is likely that it will later
bulge out of the element groove.
I have never seen broken firebrick grooves successfully cemented back into
place. However, I have pinned them.
When pinning elements, make sure the element pin is not long enough to touch
the stainless steel case on the other side of the firebrick wall. Otherwise
the element could short out against the case. Also, the pin should touch
only one loop of element wire rather than multiple loops.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P.
arnoldhoward@att.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marianne Lombardo"
In a few of the corners, some of the soft brick has chipped away and I'm
concerned the elements might pop out of the channel when heated. Can I use
some of the old element wire and "pin" the new element in, sort of like a
staple? Or will I short the element out by doing that? My plastic container
of Orton kiln cement has all dried up so I would drive 2 hours to get some
more to fix the brick.
Marianne Lombardo on mon 29 dec 03
Hi Arnold,
Thanks for the good advice. I was wondering if the pin should only touch
one loop, now I know.
I haven't tried to actually bond two pieces of fire brick together with the
Orton cement, but I do have some places where I "built up" the sides of the
channel using it. This was done about two years ago, and so far so good. But
I only fire to cone 6 so perhaps that makes a difference.
Marianne Lombardo
Omemee, Ontario, Canada
> When pinning elements, make sure the element pin is not long enough to
touch
> the stainless steel case on the other side of the firebrick wall.
Otherwise
> the element could short out against the case. Also, the pin should touch
> only one loop of element wire rather than multiple loops.
>
| |
|
