claybair on tue 2 nov 04
has this ever happen to you? (sorry looong)
Logan,
I'm so sorry to hear about your firing
mishap.
You mentioned that you had a recent
overhaul on your kiln. You jogged my
memory........
You might ask if the person doing the overhaul
reset the kiln sitter.
In one of my moves I lost that circular
piece that adjusts the kiln sitter. I resorted to
adjusting it by eye-ball estimate. Actually
the Dawson manual give instructions for adjusting
it without that thing. I think it's 1/16th " but could be wrong..
it's been awhile since I read it.
Anyway I bought another one and used it to
adjust the kiln sitter.
The kiln wound up firing too long and hot.
I was there at the end of the firing and caught it
in time.
I returned to eye-ball estimation and no problems
since then.. with the exception of the kiln sitter
shutting off the kiln since the elements were changed.
Every change creates a new set of problems and gives
the kiln a new personality.
Gayle Bair
Bainbridge Island, WA
http://claybair.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Arnold
Howard
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2004 9:29 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Kiln meltdown, has this ever happen to you? (sorry looong)
Logan, I'm very sorry about your over-fired kiln.
You already know about checking the witness cones on the shelf. Here's
another way to help prevent an over-fire: Learn to estimate kiln temperature
by the color of light showing around the lid and peepholes. That way, you
can tell at a glance if all is well with your kiln when you check it.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
arnoldhoward@att.net / www.paragonweb.com
From: "logan johnson"
> Well, I've finally stopped crying long enough to be able to get online &
> ask you all if anything like what happened to me has happened to anyone
> else. My main kiln had a catastophic meltdown during a bisque firing.
> This is the first time I have used it since a major overhaul was done to
> it . ( all the elements replaced, a bottom section added with elements,
> the kiln sitter moved to the center section, it was in the top section)
> To make a long & oh so depressing story short my kiln sitter arm went down
> but the button did not pop up the way it has for the last six years untill
> I barely touched it.
Arnold Howard on tue 2 nov 04
has this ever happen to you? (sorry looong)
Logan, I'm very sorry about your over-fired kiln.
You already know about checking the witness cones on the shelf. Here's
another way to help prevent an over-fire: Learn to estimate kiln temperature
by the color of light showing around the lid and peepholes. That way, you
can tell at a glance if all is well with your kiln when you check it.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
arnoldhoward@att.net / www.paragonweb.com
From: "logan johnson"
> Well, I've finally stopped crying long enough to be able to get online &
> ask you all if anything like what happened to me has happened to anyone
> else. My main kiln had a catastophic meltdown during a bisque firing.
> This is the first time I have used it since a major overhaul was done to
> it . ( all the elements replaced, a bottom section added with elements,
> the kiln sitter moved to the center section, it was in the top section)
> To make a long & oh so depressing story short my kiln sitter arm went down
> but the button did not pop up the way it has for the last six years untill
> I barely touched it.
>
> My roommate had opened the garage door & when I checked the kiln the first
> time I noticed the arm was down. The light on the front did not appear
> on. So I went to do a bit of throwing. A few hrs. later I went to check
> on things & noticed the light was on & boy was the kiln HOT!!!! I quickly
> turned the switches off & went to look at the kiln sitter & as I went to
> touch the button ( I have NO clue why I did that) it popped up. It had
> hung up on the hole edge. After a sleepless worry filled night I opened
> the kiln in the morning. It was WORSE than I had expected. brand new
> bricks were a toasty golden brown, ^10 kiln posts I think melted. ^10
> shelves have warped & we needn't even go into what happened to the ^6 clay
> load being bisqued. Kiln shelves have fallen into the walls & bricks were
> cracked.
>
YES! I DO realize how lucky I am that the house, kiln, garage DIDN'T burn to
the ground & I have my insurance people looking into how much is covered by
our renters insurance. the kiln sitter wasn't dirty so nothing foreign
caused this to happen. Anybody have any input?
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