Mounting Pyrometer on Kiln Wall?

[TypicalGirl]

Hey all,

I have myself a shiny new Olympic DD9 and am getting ready to fire it up for the first time.

Got a new thermocouple for my analog pyrometer too

So, I am wanting to mount the pyrometer on the side of the kiln.

If I put a wad of kiln fiber between the outside wall of the kiln and the body of the pyrometer, should that protect it and allow t to give an accurate reading?

 

Thanks Gurus!

[Denice]

Are you installing a thermocoupler holder? I have it on my paragon and keeps the thermocouple body at a safe distance and the proper depth inside. My Skutt I use a dual set up with the ends of peep hole plugs cut off and stuffed fiber inside the plug. This was recommended by a Skutt technician, with the peep home method I used some black stain and marked a line so I wouldn't get them pushed in to deep. I hope this information helps. Denice Sorry for answering this post incorrectly some how in my mind you were asking about thermocouples not pyrometer mounting. I guess 8 AM is to early to answer a question. I have a digital pyrometer and try to keep it away from the kiln as far a possible. Denice

[Guest JBaymore]

Your best friend in keeping things cool is air circulation. Mount the pyrometer meter unit so that it is supported off of the refractories and metal shell by a couple of inches. You might have to fabricate a bracket for this purpose. The manufacturer of your meter might even sell one of those brackets to fit that meter.

 

Hanging the meter off of the kiln structure bu supporting it on the thermocouple wires and the connections to the meter is not really a good "design" solution........ and stresses the connection points.

 

If you are going to use some RCF to help to improve the insulation value of the wall section just behind/near that pyrometer's meter unit, make sue that there is still some air space between the outer surface of th fiber and the back side of the meter so that air can circulate.

 

Also remember that when you add more insulation on the cold face of a refractory wall, you cause the interface temperature of the surface between the old cold face and the new extra insulation layer you added to INCREASE. If that surface is not designed to take this increase in temperature, you can get some deterioration there. So say if the kiln has a metal jacket that is just fine when it is the cold face, and you add fiber over that face, you might cause the metal to rust out in that area.

 

Additionally ....because you used the word "accrate" there in your posting...... you should understand the actual accuracy potential of the typical inexpensive analog meter potters tend to buy. Look on the meter dial face and printed somewhere you SHOULD find something that says something like "accurate to +/- 2.5% of full scale". Do the math on that number. With the typical cheap analog usually showing 2500 F at full scale... you will realize that at any given reading on the dial you are plus or minus a HUGE temperature range. And that is assuming that you keep the thermocouple/meter system correctly calibrated over useage/time. Unless you paid many, many hundreds of dollars for that analog meter, it is only really useful for general trends in temperature change.

 

You CAN get good analog meters....... I have a very accurate old analog unit that cost about $1000 in its day.... but I use an Omega Engineering digital system now. For new equipment, good digitals are cheaper now than good analog meters...... unless you find something used.

 

And one last related thing........

 

Please look up the MSDS information and health and saftey references for Refractory Ceramic Fiber (RCF). That way you know what you are working with. It is not something to be tossed around lightly.

 

best,

 

............john

[TypicalGirl]

Denise and John,

Thank you both so much for your input!

John, I wanted to assure you that I do take an abundance of caution when working with fiber, raw materials etc.

I heart my lungs and always wear a mask or respirator

 

After getting some generous input here, online and from Olympic, a very simple and obvious solution appeared.

I'll get a couple of large steel "L" brackets and mount them to the exterior kiln wall. Then I can mount the pyro perpendicular to the kiln wall.

That should keep the pyrometer safe and easily readable.

 

I expect this pyro is not the absolutely most accurate, but I do also use at least 2 cone packs in my firings, so I think I'm good for now.

A digital pyro is definitely on the list, but between the new kiln, the pad for it to sit on, the crane to get it in place and the roof I need to build for it, I gotta sell a few pots first

 

Again, thank you both so much for the input!

Cathi