neilestrick
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Posts posted by neilestrick
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It depends on how the sections are wired together. If there's a hinge on the side of the upper and lower boxes, you'll need to open them up and disconnect the wires that go to the middle box. If there are no hinges on the sides of the boxes (they're just screwed to the kiln body on both sides), then they have inter-box plugs in the boxes and the sections can just be lifted apart. Either way, you do not need to do anything with the Sitter, just leave it connected to the middle ring.
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I can make out the name on the bottom plate I think. JenKen? They're still around, give them a call.
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Not a Skutt..what's the plate at the bottom say?
50 amp circuit based on what info? The Sitter info is not the draw of the kiln, just the max the Sitter can handle.
What are the dimensions of the kiln- how many sides and how deep?
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Glad it's working!
6 hours ago, paulcook said:I believe it is 1300C or (oddly) 1999F
The first digit of the display can only display a '1' or nothing, so the F scale is limited to 1999.
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A speckled brown stoneware clay will give you that look with any white glaze.
- ARTteacher and Pres
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In my experience, MgO only contributes to opacity via crystal growth causing matteness, which in my book does not make it an opacifier. I would only consider it to be an opacifier if it can make a glaze go opaque without affecting the surface qualities, like zircopax does.
I have used several glazes over the years that will fire clear and glossy when cooled quickly, but matte and opaqe when cooled slowly, due to the magnesium in the glaze. I have also used magnesium-containing glazes that are perfectly clear no matter how they are cooled. It all depends on the percentage of magnesium and fluidity of the glaze. The clear I am currently using contains more magnesium than is recommended by limit formulas, but it's still incredibly clear and glossy.
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On 10/10/2023 at 8:24 PM, Terri98 said:
I am hoping the clay maker made notes, so I can learn what he put together and what I might need to do to make the clay more user friendly.
Wedging grog or other particulates into the clay will certainly help, but working that thick really needs an adjustment to the firing and cooling schedule in the kiln, too. And grog may not allow you to work the way you're used to or allow for certain surfaces you want. The simplest solution is to just work thinner. Get in there and carve out the thick areas.
Magic water is just the stuff you add to clay to make deflocculated slip, and deflocculated slip makes for a very strong joint. I don't think the cracks you've got here are a result of poor joining, though.
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If the main hinge rod doesn't sit all the way into the bottom of the oval hole, the lid will drop down as you open it, crushing the edge of the wall bricks by the hinge.
On all kilns of every brand, make sure you keep the body bands tight. They loosen up as the kiln ages, and when that happens they slide down and it affects the closing of the lid. If you notice that the lid doesn't close all the way at the front, it's probably because the hinge has dropped down in the back due to the body bands sliding down. This causes several problems. First, the wall bricks by the hinge get crushed or worn down. Second, the lid doesn't close all the way and you lose a lot of heat. Third, if you force the lid down and latch it, the lid flexes and could crack.
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Check the side of the control box for the serial plate. It should have all the important info. Post a pic of it.
6 elements or 3 elements that each loop twice?
The firing schedule on the instruction plate will work just fine. If you don't know how to use cones, then search Kiln Sitter on Youtube and you'l find a million instructional videos.
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2 hours ago, paulcook said:
Is there a controller with a 14-30 receptacle that would be compatible with my kiln? The Genesis Mini and others do not seem like they are plug-and-play?
Orton makes a bunch of plug and play control boxes, but they're not cheap. See HERE. Building your own system with a Genesis Mini will end up costing you about $600 in parts.
Commercial kilns controllers like the Genesis Mini run on 24 volts, so they require a transformer like THIS ONE to power them. It takes the 120 or 240 volts coming in and knocks it down to 24 volts. You'll also want a 0.5 amp fuse on the hot leg between the transformer and the controller. A basic panel mount fuse works fine. The Genesis Mini has one 12V output which you'd use to control the SSRs. There is also a safety output that you would use for the mechanical relays. The safety turns on at the start of the firing, off at the end. The mechanical relays should last forever since they're only switching twice during a firing. Run the hot leg through the fuse, then SSR, then mechanical relay. Run the neutral through the mechanical relay.
The SSRs, as cool as they are, complicate the system. You could build it much easier without the SSRs and just use a pair of mechanical relays. It would eliminate the need for fuses and a cooling fan. There's very little benefit to using SSRs unless you're doing crystalline glazes that require a little more control than the mechanical relays provide. You'll get somewhere between 200 and 600 firings from the mechanical relays, and they're cheap.
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The nice thing about mounting the box to the wall rather than to the kiln, in addition to it staying cool, is that it makes construction, maintenance and repair simpler. Simply unplug the kiln from the box and you can work on the kiln without having to unmount it or disconnect a bunch of wires from it.
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I also think it's a thickness issue. Make them half as thick, and hollow out the legs.
- Babs, Kelly in AK and Pres
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Manuals HERE. All the DTC controllers function about the same, so I would say take a look at all the 600 and 800 manuals and try them out.
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1 hour ago, paulcook said:
I can't justify $600+ on a purpose built kiln controller
A Genesis Mini is $329, and IMO the ease of use and features are worth every dime- cone fire modes, stored programs, diagnostic tools, wifi connectivity and software updates, etc.
I would ditch the switches completely and wire the elements directly to the Sitter. The switches are just another part to fail and serve no purpose in the system. I would also hard wire the interbox receptacle, another weak point.
Mechanical relays are inexpensive and an easy safety addition to the system.
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The kiln pulls however many amps the serial plate says, in this case 14 amps. Switches, like wires, are rated for up to a specific amount of amperage- 15, 20, 30, 40, etc.
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You can't just put digital control parts into that box. It doesn't have any sort of insulating baffle and isn't deep enough to add one. The easiest way to add digital controls is to use an external wall mounted box that the kiln plugs into. Being wall mounted, it will stay cool and last longer. Wire it up with the proper 4 wire configuration going to an outlet on the box, and plug the kiln into it. Set all the manual kiln controls to high and let the controller cycle the power. I also recommend using an existing controller made for kilns, such as the Bartlett Genesis. It's got far more kiln-specific programming than you'll be able to do yourself with a general purpose controller. You want to run each hot leg through an SSR and both hot and neutral through a mechanical relay. The mechanical relay gets wired to the safety output on the controller- it comes on and the beginning of the firing and turns off at the end. The SSR handles the cycling. You'll also need a fuse for each leg. Either get good heat sinks for the SSRs, or put a computer cabinet fan in the box. I like the fan because it generally does a better job around the heat of the kiln and it'a a lot cheaper and easier to install.
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Power cords, wires, etc, come in different sizes and can handle different amperages. 12 gauge wire is rated for up to 20 amps. 14 gauge wire is rated for up to 15 amps. There is no 14 amp wire, you just need wire that can handle the amperage. It's okay (and good) for the wire to be rated to a higher amperage than what's going through it. The amperage draw of the kiln is determined by resistance of the wires (ohms), which is determined by the thickness and length of the wires.
Ohms Law:
Watts = Volts x Amps
Amps = Volts / Ohms
Ohms = Volts / AmpsSo as the ohms increase, the amperage decreases. As the amperage decreases the wattage decreases, and watts are what you need for the kiln to get hot enough.
I don't know if the kiln can hit cone 6 or not. 14 amps seems a bit low for that size kiln, though.
The panel on the back of the kiln may very well be asbestos. It could also be insulating silica board, but it would have to be tested to know for sure. All of the wiring and terminal hardware should be replaced. The switch can be replaced with any general purpose 120V infinite switch that can handle 15 amps. You can get them on Amazon for about $25. The elements look to be in good condition, but you'll want to measure their resistance with a multi-meter to see if they're worn or not.
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Can you please post more pictures? I would like to see the whole kiln, the door gap you mentioned, the white poweder, and the Paragon controller.
Increasing the power of the kiln would require new elements. Since this kiln is no longer made, that would mean getting custom elements made, which can be done by Euclids.com in Canada. Increasing the power would increase the amperage, which means that you may have to upgrade all the wiring and switches and power cord to accommodate the higher amperage. Lots of ifs and maybes, and if you don't know anything about electrical systems and/or kilns then I would maybe not jump into a project like that.
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A marker will just gum up with the clay, so something that brushes on would work best, like food coloring or india ink.
- PeterH, Shane and Callie Beller Diesel
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The plaster itself should dry the surface of the clay enough that it will release. If it's not releasing quickly enough, then dust some corn starch on the mold or the clay before pressing it. I would not use any sort of liquid on the plaster, as it will just soak in and ruin the porosity of the plaster.
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The Darvan is not necessary, just thin them out with water.
Speedball black will definitely crawl if too thick.
How are you applying the underglaze with the brush? Just brushing it on like painting a wall, or applying it while it spins on the wheel? It's really easy to get it on too thick at the lip if you're not careful, as the brush will wrap around the lip and kind of scrape extra underglaze off the brush.
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Help Identifying Kiln - no serial plate
in Equipment Use and Repair
Posted
JenKen will be able to tell you what model it is and what elements you need. They'll also be able to tell you the actual amperage draw. By code, the kiln should be on a circuit that is 25% greater than the draw but no more than 50% greater. Judging from the photo it appears to be an 8 sided kiln, 18 inches tall? If so, chances are it needs a breaker in the 30-40 amp range.