joshur Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Hello fellow potters, I have recently purchased a Bailey FL21 gas kiln, vintage about 1980. It is in good condition, but I have no manual or instructions on the Fireye control components, anyone have have anything on these or experience with them? it has two Fireye systems one for each burner, I have not hooked up the gas, but with the electricity on, one side makes sparks and operates the gas solenoid, all the components test good on the other side ( I tested each component by switching to the other side ) any ideas ? Thanks Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Its your lucky day-the great news is yes Bailey is still in business and can supply you with a manual and you can call them about the control issues . You may need to ask for Jim Bailey as this is an older unit and the folks who have only worked there for 25 years may not know much about it but he will know it well. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Yep. Call Bailey. They have great customer service. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justanassembler Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 The fire eye is a UV flame sensor, it looks for a UV signal from the flame in order to allow gas to continue flowing to the burners (by opening or closing a solenoid). When they work well, they work great--I only ever used them in building glass melting furnaces, but I've heard of them being used in ceramic kilns. You should be able to get all the info you need from bailey directly, and if not fire eye documentation is out there--just search by model #. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 http://www.fireye.net/pdf/SC-102.pdf Note that is the UV detector is working on one side and not the other when you move it around, it could also be the Honeywell controller that the detector is "feeding" with the signal. When I troubleshoot these, I have found that often all it takes is to remove the Honewell controller unit from the socket that it is plugged into (behind the controller unit) and then re-seat it. Dust and corrosion of the connections can creep in over a long useage time, as well as some shifting of the units in the socket due to the long term vibration of the blower motors being conducted through the gas plumbing and burner mounts. If you are getting spark and the pilot solenoid is opening and you are getting a pilot flame for a little while, also make sure that the UV detector is "seeing" the pilot flame correctly. The flame tube (pipe in front of the detector) must be clear of obstructions and oriented so that it sees the flame well. Take the small detector off and carefully clean the lens also. And check that the pilot itself does not have a plugged orifice and has a good strong flame for the detector to "see". Maybe check the pilot gas supply line and make sure it it correct and the stop cocks are open fully. Also make sure that the pressure the kliln is connected to is the one that the uinit was designed for......... lower gas pressure than that the pilot orfices were sized for will mek the pilots "weak" (as well as the main burners). best, ....................john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 I had four "purple peepers", UV sensors from a Honeywell shutoff system installed by engineers on my two homemade kilns with huge Venturi burners at the University back in 1980. 60 cu ft car kiln and a 40+ cu ft. sprung arch kiln.I didn't order the burners either. Sometimes you have to work with what the administration will fund. Anyway, UV sensors are a good safety equipment item. They shut down the gas if there is no flame. Good thing. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perkolator Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 what is it that you'd like to know regarding the FireEye system on the Bailey? seems like you've tested and everything works. Like described already, the FireEye system is a UV scanner system added into the overall safety system of the kiln. If they don't detect flame/UV, they shut down the gas solenoid. Bailey wires them so the left side ignites first, the UV is picked up by sensor, then power is sent to the right side pilot. once both UV scanners have picked up signal, they send power to the main gas solenoids so that those can now be opened. The system on mine is even more advanced, and includes pressure switches from the blowers - which makes troubleshooting even more difficult when something goes awry. I recently talked to Bailey about my kilns' UV system and pricing for parts - but mine are about 15yrs old and outdated - yours are even older....so basically you may have to upgrade to the newest system if something is broken and you are looking for parts. You can either talk directly with Jim Bailey or Mike Serfis, who I believe is one of his gas kiln techs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshur Posted March 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 From all your explanations and some other information I found, I think I understand it better, and it looks like the kiln is going to work, as it is trying to start the left side first, and if I let the sensor on the left side see a flame it shuts off the spark on that side and starts the spark on the other. Now to hook it up to gas. Thanks to all who responded. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 From all your explanations and some other information I found, I think I understand it better, and it looks like the kiln is going to work, as it is trying to start the left side first, and if I let the sensor on the left side see a flame it shuts off the spark on that side and starts the spark on the other. Now to hook it up to gas. Thanks to all who responded. Josh keep them aimed at the pilot not the burner flame. Sometimes they can slip , so check before you turn it on. At least that was how my Honeywell system worked. The spark ignited the pilot, the pilot ignited the burner. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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