Bill Kielb

Looks pretty spiffy to me. Radiant heat on ceiling not likely an issue. A small fan just in case there is a waft of fumes. I like it, I think any challenges, if any, you would solve. Only obscure thought - Maybe cover it after FULLY cooled to minimize trapping warm humid air inside to condense on cold parts later.

My guess - blue mold, butter is a dairy product and usually goes rancid before you can see the mold. It does mold though. Blue - Blue Green common. ”Blue mold or bluish-green mold in the home is usually one of two types of mold, Penicillium or Aspergillus. They are some of the fastest growing molds (usually within 24 to 48 hours) and require very little moisture for their colonies to develop.”

Yes, the better the connection, the less heat. Connections with higher amperage will develop this sooner than others. The terminal block, size of the connector and local cooling can affect the life of the connection. You definitely should replace the wire or cut it back enough to where it is shiny and not corroded. The more corrosion, the more heat causing more corrosion and heat …… you get the idea. An overheated connection can overheat other things like relays etc…. (See below) we keep an eye out for bad connections and fix them before they affect an adjacent pert.

Glazes melt and form a glass so not likely. Typical low fire glaze on the order of 1000C, 1950f so likely far too hot for your wares and have very different expansion rates than steel. Enameling comes closer and generally melts at 1500 - 1600 f. (800 - 860 C) Folks often torch apply enameling for those without a kiln. For decorative purposes you might do the same. Enameling on metal: https://youtu.be/1aQXnT6SY64

Cone 5 with a 15 minute hold ought to get you near cone 6, especially brand new. 22 year old elements that measure exactly to original specification would be very surprising if you have been firing to cone 5/6 with any regularity in the last 22 years. At 12.8 ohms these elements are ready for replacement so the meter needs to be relatively accurate. Might be worth a careful accurate remeasure or measure the amperage, it should be 39.4 amps, if the problem continues and gets more pronounced, look for bad connections, worn relay contacts, over heating breaker …… somewhere a voltage drop is likely occurring. Most items in a kiln need some sort of service within 22 years, so relays that last that long would also be a pleasant surprise as well.

Sounds like a temperature controller that is capable of holding in the 1500f to 1600f degree range while you vary the exposure time. A temperature controller, adequate gauge thermocouple probably easier to use than an infinite switch. So if you are handy, lots of economical temperature controllers out there some include a relay and generally if digital will be your pyrometer. Don’t forget eye protection.

To upload some pictures, reduce the file sizes. That should provide some visual insight for folks. Lots of ways to reduce, here are some possibilities https://www.wikihow.com/Compress-Photos#On-Windows

Good call, in the meanwhile, you can read this for a pretty accurate flavor of how these are intended to work http://www.fireright.com/docs/frx/Frx2InstSheet.pdf - and a general help here http://www.fireright.com/docs/frx/AutoMateIIHelpForNovices.pdf - both are on that page addressed above. The second document expands on the use, such as drying things out ……

They still have a web presence, it’s an old semi automated system to turn up the kiln progressively. http://www.fireright.com/knowledgebase.html

Nice job! That appears to be an infinite switch with single output control. @neilestrick may weigh in here - I think he has a favorite - Robershaw universal replacement. What might present a minor issue would be the typical rating of these switches are 3600 Watts and you are pretty close at 3300 watts. If you can get the switch out and post a picture of the actual switch ratings it would be best, but more than likely a universal switch will be just fine………… especially if when you take that switch out and read the numbers on the switch it is rated at the traditional 3600 Watts. A call to Skutt maybe best though as they can just tell you the correct switch to use. Nice job with the pictures, usually just have to resize the picture so the file size is smaller.

Thanks, no don’t kiln wash your lid, I just asked because with the typo in your post it appeared you might have. I asked about the temperature of firing the shelves because if fired hot enough, those dots are likely not carbon. So since you fired to 1100c, those dots are probably not carbon or organics and may not go away with further firing.

Makes sense, but if fired several times, then how high was my curiosity there.

Just asking, these have been fired several times and if yes to what temperature? Also curious about scraping off the lid. Did you kiln wash the underside of your lid?

@Katrina A quick google of your AC mains voltage shows 230 volts, single phase, much like most of Europe. So if true 240v rated switches are still fine for 220 v switches. Can you confirm this is an infinite switch in that it rotates smoothly and not a three position low, medium, high type selectable switch. A picture of the switch and markings on it would also clarify a whole bunch. Actually a picture of the front of the switch would likely show which it is. I assume you have researched enough to have picked a replacement part for the kiln, so if just rated safe for a higher voltage, should not be a problem. The amperage written on the kiln tag appears to be incorrect. 127/220v is / was a common designation in some countries. 3300 watts is definitely consistent with the power to operate this kiln. I think in the end a close up picture of the switch labeling will reveal exactly which switch you need and a replacement now is likely rated safe for 240v use rather than the old 220v standard. post a picture if you can - ευχαριστώ

220v in North America is an old standard that has been replaced by 240v. Electric grid suppliers have moved the voltage up over the years to reduce their transmission expenses a bit. Not everywhere has done this, but a 240v rated switch will be just fine even if you still have 220 v.

In general, more alumina could stiffen things up. You won’t know till you try and of course increasing the temperature or time at temperature gives you some control over this as well so it even fits with the suggestion to visually confirm the glaze has fully melted. Having a 15:1 ratio - well outside what could be considered normal though can create its own issues RE: glaze melt. With the Fritt you have, you are sort of stuck with a high starting silica level. I think likely worth the test to see.

Yes definite typo - sorry, from 90/10 probably through 80/20 …… so should have said 85/15. The reasoning was the Si:Al was very high mainly due to the lack of alumina so I was looking for more alumina which ought to be in your Kaolin. As far as melting at or around cone 05/04, boron in the range of 0.45 should get you there. You currently have 0.61 in one recipe and 0.70 in the other so either ought to melt well ……… even with more kaolin as it is likely this will still be greater than 0.45 boron. Additionally The Kaolin will help suspend things and ought to be more economical than the Fritt. So, 10-20% Kaolin ought to still melt, provides alumina which we appear to be short of and could help with suspension. All probably worth a try as if the end result suits you it is likely a more economical recipe. If you don’t like the result, then no, it’s just not better. Won’t know until you try it though. I think I would test 10%, 15% and 20% Kaolin - all adding up to 100% to see if I liked one over the other.

@SUZANNEHIG Just in case you need this someday getting wax where you didn’t want it…. When a candle burns efficiently ya basically get carbon dioxide and water. When a candle burns inefficiently ya get lots of soot (carbon) which you found in your kiln. By about 800f the candle wax burns away and by about 1000f it’s basically gone. So if you want to burn unwanted wax off a piece and start over, you can fire to 1200f and be reasonably sure all traces of wax and carbon will be completely gone.

I guess maybe expand or add context. Are you seeking to add an accounting, or maybe ownership ……? For accounting generally user and some qualifier such as weight and any modifiers etc… often establishes firing cost. What is the primary purpose of the info and what is the ancillary purpose if any? If an existing system that cannot be modified, the next step is often encoding to combine more information into a single entry which often means user codes etc…. Not sure I understand what you are seeking.

@LaChell Just in case it is never found - Cress produced a general manual for their ABC kilns here: https://cressmfg.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/BASIC-KILN-MANUAL-FOR-ABC-KILNS-1.pdf

@Lilya I believe both recipes will melt at your low temperature. Fr8 would be a visual favorite and boron greater than 0.45 (0.60) ought to melt well. Just a thought, there is room in both recipes for alumina in my view as 15:1 Si:Al is high. You may want to simply test with a greater percentage EPK to achieve this. So 85% /15% may be worth a try to see if that works well and …… hey it’s probably more economical as well. Just to add, you may want to stop at Sue McLeod’s site. She has a nice way of explaining glazes, many of her instruction guides are free to download and she does conduct workshops. https://suemcleodceramics.com/

May I ask what was your favorite GB recipe and what Frits are available locally?

I am curious if you have used any glaze calculator, even Glazy will do. Regardless of the boron source, you likely will be shooting for (UMF) 0.45 boron or greater to melt at low temperatures. This may allow you more freedom to use local boron sources to at least get the melt established.

Usually a worn belt will appear dried and cracked, but enough slipping and it tends to get polished. In the old days we used belt dressing to rejuvenate. Having done that enough - new belt is a wise choice! Still needs reasonable tension though.

It is belt driven so since the belt looks to be in good shape you likely have to adjust the tension on the belt so it does not slip under normal use. Locate the tensioner and tighten it slowly trying it out. Don’t over tighten it there should be some deflection in the middle of the belt when you push on it with mild pressure. Also check that the old belt and pulleys are clean, no oils for sure. From your description, very likely just needs proper tensioning.