Nancy Chiasson on wed 29 nov 06
Hi; This is my first firing and the manual is telling me to fire to 022 =
to season my kiln. The kiln has been sitting in an uninsulated barn for =
a few years what are the chances that all the elements are still =
working?
Nancy
Snail Scott on thu 30 nov 06
At 05:03 PM 11/29/2006 -0400, Nancy C wrote:
>...The kiln has been sitting in an uninsulated barn for a few years what
are the chances that all the elements are still working?
My electric kiln has spent its entire life
(25+ years) in uninsulated sheds. This will
shorten the life of the steel fittings and
the copper wiring, but it won't hurt the
elements at all.
Open the control box and look at the wire
connections. They may be a bit green with
corrosion. A little is OK, but if they are
really coated heavily in oxidation like
pale green flocking, they could be getting
thin. I doubt that they will have reached
this stage in only a few years, though -
even mine are only now at the point where
rewiring might be wise.
-Snail
Arnold Howard on thu 30 nov 06
From: "Nancy Chiasson"
Hi; This is my first firing and the manual is telling me to
fire to 022 to season my kiln. The kiln has been sitting in
an uninsulated barn for a few years what are the chances
that all the elements are still working?
---------------
The chances are good that there is nothing wrong with your
kiln. The first firing will dry it out and help you become
familiar with it. Use witness cones and observe the kiln for
unusual sounds such as popping or crackling and unusual
odors such as burning plastic. These indicate that something
is wrong.
You should load the shelves and posts into the kiln for the
first firing. But do not stack the shelves into the bottom.
They must be separated with posts. Otherwise the shelves
could crack.
Start a firing log book, and record your first firing. I
record all my firings and include the date, total firing
time, cone or temperature, type of load, purpose (if it is a
test firing), and results. I also include a sketch of the
witness cones for each shelf.
At one time I saved witness cones from test firings. I glued
them to sheets of heavy paper labeled with date, shelf, and
kiln model and stored them in boxes. (I eventually gave them
to an artist who wanted bent cones for a design.) Sketching
the cones in a log book, however, saves space and is just as
accurate as keeping the actual cones.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
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