neilestrick Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Whenever I put new relays in a kiln I always write the date on them with a silver sharpie. That way if one fries out I can tell if it was an anomaly, like it happened after only a few months, or if they're old and all 3 should be replaced. While putting the new controller on my L&L E18T-3 this morning I saw the install date on my relays was 4-29-14. I do 150+ firings per year, so they've currently got 300+ firings on them. Not bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fireborn Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Nice. Let us know how the controller is. I am curious about getting one for my next kiln. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta12 Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Neil, how old is your kiln/controller? Just replaced elements and thermocouples on my L&L yesterday and so very glad that task is completed. I have replaced relays before (that was easy) but how much life can I expect from the controller? Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted May 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Neil, how old is your kiln/controller? Just replaced elements and thermocouples on my L&L yesterday and so very glad that task is completed. I have replaced relays before (that was easy) but how much life can I expect from the controller? Roberta I was replacing the controller with the new Genesis touch screen controller from Bartlett, but there was nothing wrong with the Dynatrol that was on it. That one's been in use for almost 8 years, 1100+ firings, with no problems. I've seen 20+ year old controllers that are still working fine. That's one part you don't really need to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta12 Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Whew!! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glazenerd Posted May 4, 2016 Report Share Posted May 4, 2016 Good tip Neil- will put that into practice. Nerd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perkolator Posted May 11, 2016 Report Share Posted May 11, 2016 All the Skutts at my studio are 20 years old. All with original control boxes except for one kiln that was a victim of vandalism a few years ago (had a break-in and they decided to pour a Coke down the control panel through the vent fins). They all seem to function just fine with the exception most of them have lost their "sound/beep" from the control pad. 300 firings is incredible! I think I get around 100-200 firings out of a relay in a Skutt 1227, 208v 3ph. Smaller kilns like our 1027 and 818 get more firings, closer to the 200 mark. I've had relays fail all sorts of ways over the years (even fail closed and keep firing, which they are not designed to do for safety reasons). We do a lot of ^04 firings with thick sculpture that sees a lot of on/off of the relays due to the firing programs we use to accommodate the thicker work. I, too, started writing dates on all my repairs like relays and keep a spread sheet of all repairs. I really need to get everyone on board with documenting every electric kiln firing though, it's kind of a free-for-all with electrics; then I'll know exactly how many firings, the programs being used, and I'll know if firing durations are changing over time. I also write a date and vendor name on every bag of materials I buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted May 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2016 All the Skutts at my studio are 20 years old. All with original control boxes except for one kiln that was a victim of vandalism a few years ago (had a break-in and they decided to pour a Coke down the control panel through the vent fins). They all seem to function just fine with the exception most of them have lost their "sound/beep" from the control pad. 300 firings is incredible! I think I get around 100-200 firings out of a relay in a Skutt 1227, 208v 3ph. Smaller kilns like our 1027 and 818 get more firings, closer to the 200 mark. I've had relays fail all sorts of ways over the years (even fail closed and keep firing, which they are not designed to do for safety reasons). We do a lot of ^04 firings with thick sculpture that sees a lot of on/off of the relays due to the firing programs we use to accommodate the thicker work. I, too, started writing dates on all my repairs like relays and keep a spread sheet of all repairs. I really need to get everyone on board with documenting every electric kiln firing though, it's kind of a free-for-all with electrics; then I'll know exactly how many firings, the programs being used, and I'll know if firing durations are changing over time. I also write a date and vendor name on every bag of materials I buy. I find that relays don't last as long in Skutt kilns as they do in L&L. This isn't a plug for L&L, it's what I actually see during my repair work. Skutt increased the gauge of their feeder wires a couple of years ago because they were seeing a lot of relay burnout. So if you haven't changed them out in a while that will help. However the bigger problem is the heat from the kiln. The control box on Skutt kilns is very shallow, and doesn't have the greatest ventilation, so the relays run hot. In an L&L, the relays are in the outer control box, and both boxes are very well ventilated, so the relays run cooler and last longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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