2Relaxed

So... I got the code again today. Bisque fire to cone 04 and the kiln didn't reach the temperature this time. I emailed Skutt support, will see what they have to say. My son (an electrical engineer) is offering his help in fixing the issue. His theory is that it's the old capacitors that are to blame. The kiln is over 25 years old btw. I don't fire often, less than once a month and have had it for les than 3 years. Replaced all elements and thermocouple after I got it.

Yes, I always use at least one pair of witness cones, so fingers crossed. I will report back here.

Thank you for all the replies. If I don't do anything about it, do you think I can proceed with the next firing? It'll be a bisque, might be a good way to try and see what happens, no?

I'm really puzzled because there was no outage on that day in the house. The kiln's panel, like I mentioned, feeds from the main panel in the house. I was home all day, working on my computer. Plus if there's an outage, there several appliances that let me know there had been one (blinking lights, beeping) - nothing like that happened.

I opened the kiln and the cones tell me that it did reach the temperature, so I won't have to refire. But is there anything else that could have caused the PF code I wonder...

Hi all, my kiln was doing a cone 5 1/2 glaze firing today. Last time I checked on it, the temp was in the 1400 range, climbing. Well, a few hours later it's displaying "PF" now, which, according to the manual, means power failure longer than 2 minutes. By my estimation, it should have reached the temperature about 3 hours ago. There was no power failure in the house. The kiln lives in a detached workshop that has a separate 100Amp panel (feeding from the house's main panel). Not sure what to do. I'm letting it cool right now. I guess I'll only find out whether it has reached the temperature after I can open it, is that right? I do have a couple of witness cones to see how hot it ended up getting. My question is - what could have caused this code? What can I do to prevent it in the future?

Thank you all for suggestions and insight. I offered a replacement or a split price and got a nice response so I will be replacing that mug. They're even willing to wait for the new mug to be made (I'm a super low volume and very slow potter). All good here. But this got me thinking - how often do we take a mug whose handle fell off back to the store and say: "Here's what happened"? Of course the price point is very different in store-bought vs handmade, but still...

It's a local buyer so I should be able to arrange for pick up unless they gave the mug as a gift to someone who's not local...

Thank you Min, I will ask to get the broken one back. I hope I'll be able to gather some clues as to how/why the handle came off...

So Mark, when you say "split the difference" do you mean the customer gets 50% off on the new mug? Do you also refund half the $$ paid for the broken mug? I will be offering a free replacement but would like to explore this "split the difference" way as well.

So this morning I got this email from a customer: "Just wanted you to know that the handle came off of the mug I bought from you for a Christmas gift. It was being hand washed and the handle just came off! Have you had this problem before?" I've never had this happen to anyone and I take great care to attach handles securely. Should I ask the customer for a picture? Will I be able to tell whether it actually came off or it was broken off? This would only be for the record and to learn for the future. I think I should just refund a move on? What would you do?

Has anyone tried firing a neodymium magnet? My son wanted to put one in with a recent glaze load but I politely declined LOL

Check this out: https://www.kristenvanpatten.com/cardboard-perforator The machine you mention is thousands of $$$, this potter/jeweler made his for a fraction of a cost! (And his brutalist pottery is amazing!)

Ooooh, I hope they keep making the low-fire metallic glazes that I'm growing fond of!

@Sorcery Good try! Experimenting is in my blood, I just have so little time for it.