Tracy Shea on sat 3 jan 04
Happy New Year to all- =20
I've put new elements in my old Skutt model 231- and fired it empty as =
per the instructions that came with the elements. One of the little =
buggers popped out and stretched out and , of course, will not fit in =
its little groove - is it ruined?? Is there any way to recoil this =
section of the element? I've called Skutt and Euclid and they are =
still on holiday. I am having trouble with the little pins holding the =
elements, too - the brick is old and seems to be too brittle in some =
spots to hold the pins- am i beating a dead kiln??
Thanks to anyone who can share a little wisdom.
Tracy Shea
wayneinkeywest on sat 3 jan 04
Tracy, you should be able to
"compress" the element wire
again with the help of a needle
nose pliers. Grab two or more
loops with the plier tips and
"squeeze" gently to compress
them. Do that as often as you
need to to fit the coil back into
the holder. Make sure that the
loops do NOT touch each other when you
are done, and of course, only
do it when the power is off. (Duh!)
If your pins don't stick in the brick,
try moving them to a different
place, like an inch or so away.
Also, the more "vertical" you can
put them into the brick, the better
chance of them grabbing. The
element while heating will want
to move them "sideways".
Hope that helps,
Wayne Seidl
Happy New Year to all-
I've put new elements in my old Skutt model 231- and fired it empty as per
the instructions that came with the elements. One of the little buggers
popped out and stretched out and , of course, will not fit in its little
groove - is it ruined?? Is there any way to recoil this section of the
element? I've called Skutt and Euclid and they are still on holiday. I
am having trouble with the little pins holding the elements, too - the brick
is old and seems to be too brittle in some spots to hold the pins- am i
beating a dead kiln??
Thanks to anyone who can share a little wisdom.
Tracy Shea
piedpotterhamelin@COMCAST.NET on sat 3 jan 04
Get yourself a pair of long lenght needle nose pliers and a propane torch. Heat the winding and pinch them together until the coil can be restored into the brick
Happy whatever
--
"Many a wiser men than I hath
gone to pot." 1649
> Happy New Year to all-
> I've put new elements in my old Skutt model 231- and fired it empty as per the
> instructions that came with the elements. One of the little buggers popped out
> and stretched out and , of course, will not fit in its little groove - is it
> ruined?? Is there any way to recoil this section of the element? I've called
> Skutt and Euclid and they are still on holiday. I am having trouble with the
> little pins holding the elements, too - the brick is old and seems to be too
> brittle in some spots to hold the pins- am i beating a dead kiln??
> Thanks to anyone who can share a little wisdom.
>
> Tracy Shea
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Snail Scott on sat 3 jan 04
At 12:41 PM 1/3/04 -0500, you wrote:
>I've put new elements in my old Skutt model 231-One of the little buggers
popped out and stretched out and , of course, will not fit in its little
groove - is it ruined?? Is there any way to recoil this section of the
element?
Still got my old Skutt 231. Mine is, I think,
truly a dead horse and on its way to becoming
a propane kiln, but there's hope for yours!
Just use a little torch to heat the offending
bit and ease it into position with bits of
wood. (Popsicle sticks with notches cut in
the ends are handy! An extra set of hands may
be useful, too.) Push the element pins in deep.
(I know this sound worse than being delicate,
but they're more likely to hold and not break
out more brick if they're good and deep. Skip
the pre-made element pins and make nice long
(2-1/2") ones from kanthal wire or from the
pigtails of your old elements. Make sure
they're really straight, though, to be easier
on the bricks.
-Snail
Craig Dunn Clark on sat 3 jan 04
Tracy, the elements that have popped out of the groves and have sagged
are not ruined. The first thing to do is to disconnect the kiln from it's
power source. Next, get hold of a pair of insulating gloves, a propane
torch, and a pair of needle nose pliers.
Take the torch and heat the offending wire at the furthest point of the
sag. As it becomes almost red hot take the needle nose pliers and gradually
recompress the coils of the wire. You may want to put on the gloves I
mentioned prior to doing this. Just work gradually and you should be albe to
get the wire back into the groove without to much trouble.
Once the wire is back in place use as many pins as you are able to
secure it. If the soft brick has deteriorated to the extent that it is
crumbling in that area try useing some Sairset as a mortar to stiffen it up.
This has worked for me.
Craig Dunn Clark
619 East 11 1/2 st
Houston, Texas 77008
(713)861-2083
mudman@hal-pc.org
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tracy Shea"
To:
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2004 11:41 AM
Subject: kiln rewiring snag-
Happy New Year to all-
I've put new elements in my old Skutt model 231- and fired it empty as per
the instructions that came with the elements. One of the little buggers
popped out and stretched out and , of course, will not fit in its little
groove - is it ruined?? Is there any way to recoil this section of the
element? I've called Skutt and Euclid and they are still on holiday. I
am having trouble with the little pins holding the elements, too - the brick
is old and seems to be too brittle in some spots to hold the pins- am i
beating a dead kiln??
Thanks to anyone who can share a little wisdom.
Tracy Shea
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
BobWicks@AOL.COM on sat 3 jan 04
Tracy:
I might add if you fail to get the wire hot before trying to bend it back
into position, the wire may break. Wire that is slumped is very brittle and that
is why you must heat it to redness before trying to reshape it.
Good luck.
Bob Wicks, Prof Emeritus HACC
Roger Korn on sun 4 jan 04
Tracy Shea asks:
I've put new elements in my old Skutt model 231- and fired it empty as =
per the instructions that came with the elements. One of the little =
buggers popped out and stretched out and , of course, will not fit in =
its little groove - is it ruined?? Is there any way to recoil this =
section of the element? I've called Skutt and Euclid and they are =
still on holiday. I am having trouble with the little pins holding the =
elements, too - the brick is old and seems to be too brittle in some =
spots to hold the pins- am i beating a dead kiln??
Thanks to anyone who can share a little wisdom.
First, TURN OFF THE POWER to the kiln. Heat the sagging coils red-hot with a propane torch and use long-nose pliers to wiggle the element back into the groove and into shape. With an old, brittle brick, I just use more pins. You'll have some "breakouts", but you can usually get things to work. And vaccuum up all the dust, chips, and detritus before you fire the kiln again.
Hope this helps,
Roger
--
McKay Creek Ceramics
In OR: PO Box 436
North Plains, OR 97133
503-647-5464
In AZ: PO Box 463
Rimrock, AZ 96335
928-567-5699
william schran on sun 4 jan 04
Tracy wrote:> One of the little buggers popped out and stretched out
and , of course, will not fit in its little groove - is it ruined??
Is there any way to recoil this section of the element?<
You can use a small torch to heat the element until it softens, then
ease it back into place. Need to take care, I usually use a scrap
piece of wood to move the heated element so as not to damage it.
Bill
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