Bill Kielb

Hmm, interesting stuff so If I don’t start at freezing does it take less calories? …. And as it “vaporizes” is there any particular pressure associated with the vaporization? And finally how can this be used practically when drying wares?

Stain and clear matte likely should get you close and can be adjustable and repeatable. There are lots of clear matte glazes out on Glazy.

Like many machines that are rotation dependent and because of the type motor / power can rotate backwards for their use depending on the order of the phase connections. it’s customary to provide direction to the electrician on rotation and reversing it as appropriate so the machine is setup appropriately after it is wired. Reversing rotation is usually a simple matter of switching two wires which is noted on the machine. The manufacture often can’t predict the universal order of phase (a,b,c -r,s,t) so final commissioning is left up to the person connecting the machine. In other words being an electrician / mechanic also often requires latent skills. This is true for many industrial machines and even many air conditioning compressors. A backwards spinning scroll compressor just doesn’t work.

Sounds like a rebuild for sure followed by regular typical maintenance from here on. Interesting what the build up could be so pictures would be helpful. Hopefully not an insane amount of carbon else a change in firing habits may be in order to solve that problem. I assume these are natural gas or propane so please describe the fuel, model etc…. with your pictures as well as an idea of what the typical firing schedule entails (including gas pressure adjustments and damper operation through the firing) and how folks are achieving reduction without generating tons of soot would be helpful. Finally, there are still a few other things I can think of but pictures definitely would be a good step, include the burners as well if possible, maybe top down if possible. Last I checked Geil is still in business so replacement parts can be had. http://www.kilns.com/

Generally for typical domestic water type stuff loops, offsets, changes in direction allow the pipe to shrink and grow. Fastening specifications vary but generally allow uniform support and axial movement. Here is one of many guides out there: https://www.flowguard.com/blog/how-to-account-for-pipe-expansion-in-a-plumbing-system

Assuming these numbers are correct, when your element resistance rises by 10%, generally they are worn and need replacement and your kiln will not make top temperature. The design of many of these kilns (new) is 110% excess wattage to offset the shell losses. Wattage and losses drive the entire thing. Power or wattage = voltage(squared)/resistance. Power decreases linearly as resistance goes up but power decreases exponentially as voltage goes down. So a 5% decrease in voltage gets you approximately a 10% decrease in wattage. Add some shell leaks and you can’t make temperature. The numbers say your decrease in power is definitely a huge issue because of the depressed voltage. Is the wiring to the kiln adequately sized or does your mains voltage drop to 228v? Additionally, measuring the actual voltage and amperage at top temp accurately so we know the real hot resistance of the elements would probably reveal even less power is available as the kiln heats up. Your controller has interesting steps and droops in it as well which could indicate significant overshoot and under shoot while firing. The percentage on / off is all over the place so it’s PID parameters likely don’t match this load well. Seal up your kiln, but at that low of voltage I don’t believe you have enough energy. Your kiln is running on 10% less wattage to begin with.

Definitely not green as Mark said! Green is your chassis ground for safety. No point in livening up all the metal parts on the machine and making it a shock hazard. If the motor is an ac motor then not likely you will be able to simply switch any two wires. If it’s a dc motor then yes, likely. A definite call before switching anything though.

I get 6100 w and some change. Is the graph true and it’s heating at a decent rate and just stops at the magic 1080c? Normally the SSR would be pulsed on / off by the PID logic to maintain a heating rate. At 1080c can you confirm it is on 100% of the time and the kiln does not climb? Also would be curious of the drop across the SSR just to understand how much power was being consumed by it. Easy enough to just jump this out and see what the firing temperature rate of rise ends up to be for real. Its hard to believe it’s moving upward in the hundreds of degrees c per hour and just quits at some point.

just guessing here so…… Hmm, so not enough power to make temperature vs the shell losses. 1250 c recorded for a 1260c kiln. Seems reasonable actually.but maybe the green line is the set point? Assuming it’s not even close, then why is there not enough power. Brand new at 5760 Watts this barely makes cone 8. So when worn roughly 10% it will no longer make cone 8 and requires aan element change. Assuming not enough power Do you really have 5760 watts? ( measured accurately) your graph does not show the firing rate of your SSR which is firing at some preset slope and never really changes if we do not include the green plot. The lid The gap will add to increased losses. The top and bottom of your kiln will account for the greatest percentage of losses, but this kiln will not routinely make cone 8, that is a max temp when brand new. light load The more wares, the more mass the more power it will take My best guess if it’s maxing out at 1080c but as your graph shows it’s progressing at 200-260c per hour then abruptly stops it’s likely a programming issue or SSR drive related issue.

Interesting the attachments are intact yet when the material shrunk it exceeded the strength of the clay rather than bend during shrinkage. Better clay, thicker form all possibilities but handles should also have a way to shrink and uniformly bend a little as they shrink. Simple C form handles are often great examples as the perfect C often will collapse a bit into an over bent C but the handle because of its shape takes a bit of the axial stress and bends along the spine of the handle. Without getting too nerdy, some handle shapes allow the distribution of axial stress more evenly. So stronger clay may be the answer but handle shape and pre shape are something to experiment with. As others have likely said, good practice throughout production and attachment are always important some handle shapes have a bit of an over loop at the top which can distribute this stress along the clay better than having all the force converge into one spot. A little illustration of how we allow for this stress in pipe work below. Very similar to a C shaped handle.

Hmm, the “E” model is rated at cone 4 or 2100 degrees max. The controller should cone fire but with this kiln you will need to work with lowfire clay and glazes, generally known as cone 04. This kiln will not fire cone 6 or higher clay. The Bartlett manual has a bisque fire program. Your Manual here https://binst.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/manual/asset_path/67/Operation_Manual_-_V6CF.pdf Page 25 has a typical bisque firing schedule to cone 04 and the Bartlett control allows simple cone firing programs, bisque and glaze, starting on page 9. As I mentioned you arę likely limited to firing lowfire clay and gaze because of the temperature limitations of your kilns.

What model is the Olympic and yes the Bartlett ought to run a cone fire bisque or glaze for you.

Took me a bit but I think this was your response before the split. “Hi Bill, I have a Jenn ken kiln that only fires to 1800F I have never worked with cones. I've previously worked with PMC, enameling and fused glass. Guess I need to pick up some cones. To expand, I also own an Olympic kiln that is set up for glass. I am able to program it for clay. My 3rd kiln is a Paragon 2 which has a controller that can be programmed as high as is needed. My plan is to make jewelry. I can send you pics of all 3, but I must admit, being tech savvy is not my strong suit. I will do my best” The Jen Ken is likely not suitable for clay as low fire clay and bisque temperatures are in the 1900 degree range. It sounds like you can use the Olympic or Paragon and each likely has a controller that you can just run a bisque program. Just post the model of kiln and controller for the Olympic and Paragon. In the meanwhile you will need to pick a clay and firing range you will be working in. For jewelry we always picked cone 6 and a nice porcelain fired to vitrification to make sure it had very low absorption even if unglazed and to ensure it was very sturdy. Just a personal preference though, folks do use low fire clay. post the models of your kilns and controllers, they likely will automatically fire bisque. In the meanwhile there is a bit of learning about low, mid fire and high fire clay bodies that you will need to do.

Sorry this has been here for a bit - just got back to it. This is not difficult so no worries. In general: bisque firings burn out all organics and to do that, the firing goes relatively slow (8-10) hours or even more for very “dirty” clays. What temperature (cone) are you working at and which JenKen controller / kiln do you have? Picture of the control would be helpful as well.

I have read through this and cannot tell if you are using witness cones to confirm things are “too hot”. Cones sense temperature but also time at a temperature or heat work. The target cone temperature built into the controller is a target which can change a bit depending upon the amount of heat work calculated. Often this depends on the load as well. The controller keeps calculating the heatwork which often ends on or near the target. Witness cones are the only way to know what the kiln truly fired to. In the end, the best firing for your clay and glaze is the one your glazes behave the best in.

Many folks leave them running. Adjusted correctly they only remove a tiny amount of actual kiln air. Turning it off early should save some energy, but 800c is likely too low as in bisque and even glaze things will not be entirely burned out. 1000c is probably more practical. The key IMO is properly adjusted so mostly room air is extracted at the kiln pickup and only a small amount of kiln air is ever removed. This will save your fan from overheating and reduce the likely hood of thermal shock. Glazes like oxygen, so having it on during the firing can brighten things up significantly and help preserve your elements from corrosive gasses.

I think I would opt for wiring the elements in series (high power) for each ring and feed them with their own infinite switch 240 v no nuetral. Fix up the sitter and use it to feed everything as a safety. Clearly remark everything for 240v operation with a ground. (3 wire). Just like more modern kilns that do not use a neutral. There are no 120v auxiliary loads this way so no need to run the neutral. The infinite switches will provide variability for firing. Safe neat wiring practices for load and temperature rating is also a must though IMO. 4 way switch below to give you an idea of typical operation. If you wire two elements in series they can be driven by 240 v without a neutral at their junction.

Just a thought, why not bisque fire the airbrushed underglaze then do your transfer. Seems ideal for a layered approach

Video here: https://youtu.be/CHbAnW79bq4 for Mother of Pearl application you may find handy.

Just a quick reminder, for kilns in North America electrical is a bit different as in: the breaker needs to be sized for at least 125% of the load but no greater than 150%. NEC sizing rules. Secs. 210-22(c), 220-3(a), 220-10(b), and 384-16(c) Basically they are considered a continuous resistive load. A 40 amp breaker and wiring, if my math is right.

I think your answers may be here https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/30146-do-you-grease-a-new-wheel-head-if-so-wear-and-with-what/

If you are sure it’s gold ….. For gold to be gold it needs to be applied fairly thick and uniform. If applied too lightly it fires green so this would be really hard to airbrush on to a descent thickness. And of course aerosolizing most of these are generally relatively hazardous. As mentioned above MOP (Mother of Pearl) provides a pearlescent look, not necessarily gold so are you seeking shiny gold as commonly used to decorate the rims of wares?

Just a first question, it is an old Paragon that requires 240v with a neutral and an earth ground. Do you have Two (2) 120v circuits and a fully rated Nuetral run to the machine? This should be your wiring diagram https://paragonweb.com/wp-content/uploads/A82B_A823B_A81B_A88B_AA8B_AA8B3B_WD_PL.pdf four way switch operation below requires both 120v circuits AND a nuetral.

This may help as an early observation, @Mark C will likely weigh in, he has had many of these - I believe. Even though removing the large pulley may require a puller, those that I have seen have a key way and key so to reinstall usually would require cleaning ALL the rust including sanding / dressing with very fine sandpaper / crocus cloth to remove all rust and burrs. To install usually requires lubricating and just sliding the pulley back on to its proper elevation then inserting the key in the keyway and tightening the set screw(s). Most pulleys are not press fit design so they can remain fairly easily adjustable on the shaft. The wheel bearing should be retained in a housing for pottery wheels and are generally not press fit like a fixed axle.

I think based on experience and prior records you will likely be fine unless something in there is fairly range sensitive. I Hope it works out for you.