mel jacobson on mon 20 feb 06
remember, pressure is regulated by the `regulator`.
if your tank does not have one...get one. today.
it is without doubt, the most important element
when firing with propane. safety, ease of
control of flame and consistency.
i have found it difficult to tell folks what
pressure we use at the farm. it varies from
gauge to gauge. what one person calls
14 lbs, i call 10.
so.
it all depends. how does your gauge work.
is it a high pressure or low pressure gauge.
how old is it. how much mud does it have in it.
???? same for regulators. i take mine (just did six of
them last summer.) apart about
every 5 years. carefully clean out the foul stuff.
they are simple tools, just make sure you take
very careful care of the cleaning process.
(we have to make sure spiders have not built
nests in our systems. you can look carefully and
find the nest..right in the orifice.)
the most important aspect of a regulator is that
no heat or flame can back track into the tank.
it is a one way street. goes only to the
burner.
at the farm we have three big propane tanks.
500, 500 and a 250. two of them are manifolded
together to produce 750 gallons. we have multiple
regulators in this system. each set of burners
has a regulator along with the normal needle valve
control. each tank has a bright red on/off valve.
when anyone has a problem, we run to the tank
and shut things off first at the tank. never work
from the burner to the tank. one can always
start right up again during a firing, but if there is
trouble, we want things shut down fast. at the tanks...all of them.
i have run copper tubing to all the kilns...underground.
it makes for a better system. we have quick connect systems
on all the burners. just snap them in place. i know some
folks question this, but we find them much better than other
mounting systems. people are always moving burners around
to other kilns, or want a certain burner. this way we can
move things around without taking things apart with a wrench.
i hate stripping brass fittings...getting leaks.
`clean, well maintained` quick connect systems are safe as can be.
if i had only one set of burners to each kiln, never have to move them,
then i would hard wire them in place with permanent connections.
`mel, can we move those nils lou burners over to the wood fired
kiln for the night, just as back up...you guys can use the
old weed burners for that tiny stoneware kiln, first thing in the
morning...then we can switch at noon.` typical discussion.
we often switch burners in the middle of a firing. it takes two
minutes. hay creek with 8 kilns and 15 top grade potters working
them, has taught us a great deal about how kilns work.
we use about half the gas of other potters, half the time.
often fire oxidized firing all the way to cone 10. turn off the
kiln and reduce on the way down...using small wooden scraps.
get the same or better reduction as firing reducing up.
we have blown up many myths. of course then folks tell
us that we are b.s. ing. hmmm, i wonder? is keeping
an old myth alive more important than finding the truth?
(like tony firing shino...how is it done?)
mel
from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://my.pclink.com/~melpots3
Jennifer Boyer on mon 20 feb 06
See Mel? How I hit the reply button and then neatly edited out the
parts of your post I didn't need? It can be done... ;-)
Tell me about these quick release systems. Are they legit in the eyes
of the propane company? Are you installing them yourself?
I have a chronic cold area in my kiln and am considering adding a few
burners to the mix. My kiln will fire evenly if I let it reduce, but
I can't do that for various reasons. It might be good to add some
burner ports to my car door, but I'd need to remove the burners
between firings.
I've seen the flexible hose version of burner connection but my
propane company frowns on that.
What's quick release?
Jennifer
On Feb 20, 2006, at 9:20 AM, mel jacobson wrote:
>
> i have run copper tubing to all the kilns...underground.
> it makes for a better system. we have quick connect systems
> on all the burners. just snap them in place. i know some
> folks question this, but we find them much better than other
> mounting systems. people are always moving burners around
> to other kilns, or want a certain burner. this way we can
> move things around without taking things apart with a wrench.
> i hate stripping brass fittings...getting leaks.
> `clean, well maintained` quick connect systems are safe as can be.
>
> if i had only one set of burners to each kiln, never have to move
> them,
> then i would hard wire them in place with permanent connections.
*****************************
Jennifer Boyer
Thistle Hill Pottery
Montpelier, VT
http://thistlehillpottery.com
*****************************
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