neilestrick

I've had good luck with the connectors you show above, and ConeArt uses them in all their kilns. Are those tinned copper? I usually use raw copper, as does ConeArt. Not sure if that matters or not. One tip, make sure you're putting the wire at the bottom in the V and the element at the top, so the bolt pushes on the element. That'll give a tight connection. You may also need to re-tighten them after the first few firings just to be safe. Bending the end of the element into a circle and putting a bolt through it is a great connection. Use stainless steel, put a washer on each side, use a lock washer, and connect the feeder wire to it with a high temp ring terminal. Totally old school and very good. I'd use a 10-24 bolt.

Lots of great discussion here, but we still don't know what the blowouts look like, where they were on the piece, etc. OP has abandoned us. Personally, I've never considered compression to be the cause for blowouts. They are typically caused by foreign bodies in the clay or moisture. I don't see why compression, platelets alignment, etc, would cause a section to violently separate from the piece.

GFCI outlets are not recommended for use with kilns. See HERE.

@THW Aha! It's not an 8 tab, it's a 6 tab with a double connector. Okay, so that all good then. We just couldn't tell from the photo. In that case double check all the crimps and see if that helps. A bad crimp could definitely cause the relay to overheat and fail.

Try again. I approved your account.

@Bubba The plug definitely needs to be replaced, but I would go ahead and replace the entire power cord. Could be that they didn't have it on the correct size wiring, which was causing the outlet and plug to overheat, but who knows. Plugs wear out over time, so it's not all that unusual to have to replace it. If the kiln is very low priced, then even if you have to replace some stuff you'll be coming out way ahead over a new kiln. As long as the bricks and lid/floor are in good condition the rest if it is relatively easy and inexpensive to fix compared to buying new.

The relay in these pictures is different than the relay you currently have installed. The 6 tab is the correct one, not the 8 tab that's currently installed. I would hook up the 6 tab, following the wiring diagram.

On hi they probably won't cycle, they'll just stay on. If they're staying on but it's not hitting temperature, then the elements are probably worn. Are you sure the switches were installed properly? If I remember correctly they are installed upside down in these kilns. The best solution to making these kilns work well is to simply gut them and replace all the switches with infinite switches wired directly to the elements and sitter, no relays or timers.

Yep. If you put it on Ceramic it's basically just staying on medium. You need to set it to hi fire.

@THW Can you tell us where each pair of wires on the relay connect to? The single pair at the end should go to the controller. One set should go to the relays. The other sets should come from the power cord and connect to the transformer. Can you make a diagram that shows which terminal pairs lead to which parts? Also, can you tell us what the part number on the relay says?

Hi @THW, welcome to the forum! I'm not familiar with the controller, but has the relay actually burned out every time you've replaced it? If it's burning out, then there's a bigger problem, like either the kiln is pulling too much amperage and it's overloading the relay, or there's an issue with the wires connected to the relays. A relay should get at least 150 firings before it burns out, so there's definitely something else going on. Are you sure it's the correct relay? Post a pic of the kiln serial plate if you can.

No clue, but it should fire similarly to the modern Olympic round gas kilns. There's a lot of information here on the forum about them that you can find with the search bar.

There's a lot of stuff pulling power from that box, so like Bill said, if you're firing a 50 amp kiln you're going to have to make sure you're not using some of the other things like the dryer, stove, and maybe even the A/C. If you can afford it, the best thing to do would be to upgrade the main service to 200 amps. In regards to the wire size/amperage issue, kiln manufacturers typically recommend the 60C ratings, so #6 for 50 amps, and safety inspectors usually want it done to manufacturer's specs.

It's probably due to the insulation. Looks like they're using several types, including the micropore stuff, which can be placed between the bricks and the metal, preventing the metal from working like a heat sink.

Higher amperage requires larger wires. If they ran conduit out to the kiln shed, you may be able to pull larger wires to accommodate the larger kiln. I would also double check on what they mean by not being able to do more because of the breaker box. If they mean the box doesn't have room for more breakers, that doesn't matter because you'll be replacing the old kiln breaker with a new one. If they mean you've used up all the available amperage, it may be that you can fire the kiln, but you can't run the clothes dryer or AC at the same time or something like that. How big is the main box- 100 amps or 200 amps?

@Christine Belt Welcome to the forum! The bigger the kiln, the higher the amperage. It takes a certain amount of watts to heat up every square foot of kiln space, so more space equals more watts. Watts= amps x volts, and since the voltage is constant, you have to increase the amperage to get the watts. When you say the fuse box can't handle the 50 amp, is that because you don't have space in the kiln for any more breakers, or because you've maxed out the amperage? Have you had an electrician confirm this?

Yep. Whenever I see the correct size breaker tripping after the kiln's been running for a while, it's a worn breaker. It happens.

Talk to Brent to confirm before buying anything.

Yes, you need a new potentiometer for the pedal. It comes with both the high and low settings, and all the necessary wiring terminals to install it. However, there's a problem you have to deal with- Brent has recently switched to a different potentiometer model (the old one is no longer made), and it's about 1/16 of an inch taller than the old one, which means it's too tall for the pedal. Their solution is either to get a whole new pedal ($$$) or grind out the metal to make room for the taller potentiometer. Another solution would be to get a piece of rubber or silicon or something like that and cut a gasket to shim up the pedal cover.

A little ceramics in 7th grade and 9th grade, like one or two projects, but then I didn't touch clay until my junior year of college. I jumped headfirst into it though, and made up for lost time. I was a math major before going into art, so it was a difficult transition in some ways. From my bio on my web page: I was very concerned about my future, as there aren't a lot of jobs for potters (shocking, I know), and was even more troubled about the mental health of my parents, who were already reeling from my decision to abandon my actuarial ambitions. After several long conversations with my ceramics professor during which he tried to ease my fears about earning potential and financial stability, he finally said the words that would seal the deal: "If you are passionate about it, you'll make it work. Boom." Okay, he didn't say 'Boom', but I definitely heard it in my head and felt it in my soul. And here we are now. He was right. His name was Dick Luster, and he was one of the most influential people I've ever had in my life. He died a couple of years ago, and I was surprised at how hard it hit me, considering that we hand't talked for a number of years (cause life and distance and all those excuses). I hadn't really given him enough credit for the path my life has taken.

I think it's just not the right glaze for that situation. You either need to do a wipeback to expose the texture better, or use a glaze that is more fluid/breaks better. I'm also not a big fan of having texture like that on the eating surface. It's going to be difficult to clean unless it fills completely with glaze.

Facebook Martketplace is a good place to sell, too.

Yes, the hinge rod is in the correct position in the bottom of the oval hole. But if the body bands have slid down, then it will put extra pressure on the back edge of the kiln, and cause the lid to lift at the front.

THIS type, but you can probably find one for 1/4 the price elsewhere.

Chances are the body bands have loosened and the hinge has dropped a little bit as a result. You'll need to reset the hinge. Remove the tension on the lid spring, loosen the screws holding the hinge plate, then adjust the body bands if they have sagged and tighten them all up. Then push up the hinge so it's in the correct position with the main hinge rod sitting in the bottom of its holes and tighten the hinge screws. Then set the spring. I would also add a latch to the front of the lid to help keep it shut