Fred Parker on wed 3 jan 07
The lip in front of the elements in the bottom ring of bricks in my very
used manual Skutt 1027 have many broken areas which allow the bottom
element to sag out of its channel onto the kiln floor. Is this harmful,
or should I just ignore it?
Many thanks,
Fred Parker
Arnold Howard on thu 4 jan 07
Fred, if it were my kiln, I would repair the element. Unplug
the kiln. Heat the sagging section of element with a propane
torch until the element turns red. (Surprisingly, that takes
only several seconds.) Then gently squeeze the coils
together with needle nose pliers until the element shrinks
back into the groove. Once the element is in position
against the brick, you can hold it in place with an element
staple.
When it is red, the element is pliable. If at any time the
element becomes stiff as it cools, do not move it. Otherwise
it will break. Shrinking the element requires a delicate
touch.
You can also patch the broken firebricks. It is more
permanent than the element staple repair yet is usually
unnecessary especially in an older kiln.
Cut out the damaged section of brick with a hacksaw blade.
Make a duplicate section of brick to insert into the area
that you removed. For this to be effective, you must form a
large flat section of brick where the mating halves meet.
If you have the broken brick pieces that came off the
original bricks, you might be able to merely cement them
back into place.
Here is a technique that Nils Lou uses to repair bricks. (I
haven't tried it myself yet.) Coat mating halves of broken
brick sections with ITC 100. Let dry. Then use ITC 200 EZ as
a repair cement.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
From: "Fred Parker"
> The lip in front of the elements in the bottom ring of
> bricks in my very
> used manual Skutt 1027 have many broken areas which allow
> the bottom
> element to sag out of its channel onto the kiln floor.
Andy Misner on fri 5 jan 07
This is a good Technique but instead of using the ITC products.
I'd reccomend a good refractory mortar like Resco's Troweleze, or
Louisville's Derby mortar. Its fairly cheap (we sell it for $30 for
a 50# pail) Its made for bonding brick.
Andy
www.indfirebrick.com
>You can also patch the broken firebricks. It is more
>permanent than the element staple repair yet is usually
>unnecessary especially in an older kiln.
>
>Cut out the damaged section of brick with a hacksaw blade.
>Make a duplicate section of brick to insert into the area
>that you removed. For this to be effective, you must form a
>large flat section of brick where the mating halves meet.
>
>If you have the broken brick pieces that came off the
>original bricks, you might be able to merely cement them
>back into place.
>
>Here is a technique that Nils Lou uses to repair bricks. (I
>haven't tried it myself yet.) Coat mating halves of broken
>brick sections with ITC 100. Let dry. Then use ITC 200 EZ as
>a repair cement.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Arnold Howard
>Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
>ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
>
>From: "Fred Parker"
>> The lip in front of the elements in the bottom ring of
>> bricks in my very
>> used manual Skutt 1027 have many broken areas which allow
>> the bottom
>> element to sag out of its channel onto the kiln floor.
>
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