dneese on thu 11 nov 04
I cleaned all ten of my MR 750's last fall by taking them off the manifold
and power wire brushing the outside. After removing the orifice I wire
brushed the inside clean of all the crud. Carefully cleaned the orifices.
Then a cloth
dipped in motor oil and rubbed the outside of the burners, shutter threads
before re-installing them on the manifold. My kiln is an updraft Olsen so
the burners need cleaning time to time since the burners point up into the
kiln. Grit and
little critters are always plugging them up. Before loading and most every
firing I will attach a small flexible hose to the shop vac and clean them
out. Probably should replace thermocouple now.
Such a pretty blue flame on all burners.
Dale Tex
"across the alley from the Alamo"
San Antonio, Texas USA
Heading out to Rockport Texas tomorrow conducting a clay throwing
demonstration workshop Saturday
and Sunday at the Rockport Center for the Arts. Throw and show just about
everything. Should be a lot of fun with the group that have signed up! Eat
some seafood....see ya.
Dan Dermer on thu 11 nov 04
I too have an updraft Olsen-style kiln, a West Coast 16 that is situated
outside in my backyard, 24x7. I take my shop-vac and vacuum the burner
ports, burners, and inside of the kiln before each glaze firing. Sometimes
this clears out all the spider webs and dust that accumulate between
firings, sometimes not. As such, I also use a long wire or pipe-cleaner to
clear any obstructions in the eight gas burner orifices (two on each side of
the kiln) before loading a glaze firing.
I do this procedure because even a small obstruction in one of the burners
totally throws off the evenness of reduction in the kiln -- at least in my
experience.
My question: does anyone have a source for longer, more rigid wire pipe
cleaners (with *very* soft bristles) that can be used to clear a natural gas
burner orifice? Pipe cleaners from the local hobby shop kind of work, but
are too floopy and short to get the job done from inside the kiln, working
to thread the pipe-cleaner downward through the burner port and orifice.
Thanks for any leads...
-Dan
p.s. Looking forward to meeting lots of Clayart folks in Mendocino in
January! I just registered yesterday, and will drive up from San Jose the
day before the workshop begins.
p.p.s. San Jose (SJC) is another airport you might try if fares are
unreasonable out of OAK, SAC, or SFO.
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/ddermer
http://www.ovcag.org
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