Sincultura 13 on mon 11 oct 04
I want to start by thanking all the people who helped me take all the necessary safety measures with my kiln and feel comfortable using it again….
I was finally able to fire my kiln a couple of days ago and though I was able to bisque and glaze some pieces successfully to cone 06 I don’t fully understand the way these Duncan automatic feature works…
My kiln is an EA/DA-820 with no override switch to fire it manually… Since I had notices that the temperature raises pretty fast on it, what I did was place a post to keep the kiln’s lid propped open a couple of inches for the first four hours. After two hours the kiln stopped switching on and off every 60 seconds. As the elements became glowing red and I didn’t notice any difference in the elements intensity when every hour I turned the dial counter clockwise as I was told I should do with infinite switches when firing hand built/wheel thrown pieces.
I sat down and read the PDF manual again and became more confused when I noticed this… In the page 22 (24 on the PDF file)of the LX-914 manual is said that in the automatic mode after two hours the kiln goes to whatever you dialed on the infinite switch… The on page 32 (34 on the PDF file) under a section named “How Your Duncan Automatic Kiln Works” says, and I quote: “In the Automatic position, the kiln will go through the two-hour warm-up and then remain on high until the kiln-sitter drops”.
Does anyone know for sure which one is the way these should kilns work? I’m thinking that maybe the infinite switch is not working right on my kiln… since it makes no sense for Duncan to put an infinite switch if the kiln is just going to hifire after two hours no matter what… right?
I read, don’t remember where, something to the effect that these Duncan models where made to fire slip cast pieces and thus fire and cool down too fast for hand built/wheel thrown pieces… Is that right?
If you where in my situation would you exchange this kiln for a similar size and condition manual kiln if you had the chance?
thanks in advance…
sincultura
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sincultura13 on wed 13 oct 04
Thanks... Mine didn't have that "3-position rocker switch" just the
sitter with timer and the infinite switch. That switch would have
made a hell of a difference... I was willing to keep it til I found
out that there was no way to keep the kiln on low for more than two
hours... I live in the Caribbean were there's high humidity all year
round and I need more than two hours of low to make sure my pieces
don't explode...
In anycase I just to a leap of faith and went ahead an exchanged the
kiln for a manual Evenheat model...
thanks again for you assistance...
sincultura
--- In clayart@yahoogroups.com, Arnold Howard
wrote:
> Sincultura, does your Duncan kiln have a 3-position rocker switch?
That
> switch is designed to slow down the firing. If you have the
switch, try
> turning it to MANUAL LOW for the first two hours of firing. Then
turn the
> switch to AUTOMATIC.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Arnold Howard
> Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
> arnoldhoward@a... / www.paragonweb.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sincultura 13"
> > My kiln is an EA/DA-820 with no override switch to fire it
manually. Since
> I had notices that the temperature raises pretty fast on it, what
I did was
> place a post to keep the kiln's lid propped open a couple of
inches for the
> first four hours. After two hours the kiln stopped switching on
and off
> every 60 seconds. As the elements became glowing red and I didn't
notice any
> difference in the elements intensity when every hour I turned the
dial
> counter clockwise as I was told I should do with infinite switches
when
> firing hand built/wheel thrown pieces.
> >
> > I sat down and read the PDF manual again and became more
confused when I
> noticed this. In the page 22 (24 on the PDF file)of the LX-914
manual is
> said that in the automatic mode after two hours the kiln goes to
whatever
> you dialed on the infinite switch. The on page 32 (34 on the PDF
file) under
> a section named "How Your Duncan Automatic Kiln Works" says, and I
quote:
> "In the Automatic position, the kiln will go through the two-hour
warm-up
> and then remain on high until the kiln-sitter drops".
>
>
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