Bill Kielb

Looks like a small well powered kiln. Depending on reduction schedule and firing speed restrictions of the wares you will fire likely 8 - 10 hours. If your wares are not particularly thick and you can go 400 - 600 degrees per hour with let’s say a 45 minute early reduction maybe gets you a bit faster down to 6 hours. This kiln looks like it can go to cone 10. One thing about small updraft kilns folks are prone to stalling them in very heavy reduction. The supervision of damper and gas is often something to get used to and too heavy a reduction will drop your speed a bunch. In my experience most folks tend to stall these kilns on their way to cone 10 so cone 6 reduction should be easier to hit.

Hi AndrewB, Welcome to the Forum!
Is that a "flange mount" bearing assembly?
If so, is there a cartridge bearing that is replaceable, or must the entire assembly be replaced?
Bearing 6204 is familiar to me; it's common for bicycle hubs. I've used the double seal (designated by "2RS") type.
ABEC 5 seems a reasonable tradeoff between cost and durability, a worthwhile step up from ABEC 3, imo; I'd stay away from the "ceramic" type - high cost for a bit less friction and not necessarily more durable...
The Enduro brand is widely available and lasts better than other brands I've tried. Vendor WheelsMfg.com has been great ...they used to offer cartridge bearings via https://bicyclepartsdirect.com/ - however, I'm not seeing 6204 (or any other wheel/hub) bearings there now...
 
The 6204, however, is 20mm ID x 47mm OD x 14mm wide.
I'm not finding a spec of BPF6X30MM
Added: if there is a cartridge bearing to press in/out, a bearing press can be very handy, for
  a) it is important to apply force only to the outer bearing race edge (of the new bearing)
  b) it is important to maintain alignment throughout the pressing (in and out)
Once the bearing gets a bit tilted, it can be difficult to straighten out without damaging the bearing and/or the hub.
 
Added II: does it look somewhat like this?

I wanted Glazy’s target and solve for something, so I sprang for the membership for a year. The paid version lets you overlay the common limit formulas over the Stull chart. It also lets you overlay the Montmollin fuse charts, which is less helpful, but I digress. 

The limit formula overlays are a nice visual. If you’re not at the place where you want to pay a bunch of money for glaze software, I’m happy to screenshot here for educational purposes. 

Congrats! 

Sounds like you figured out gas / damper and reduction indicators for you so your heating rates are acceptable. I have never had to strike or go into heavy reduction at the end but if you get the result you are looking for, then it is a technique successful for you. There are many schedules and techniques, I have never had to strike nor clean up the kiln at the end. My goal is always to get the uniform reduction I am seeking without a smokey mess and waste of fuel. Some test tile pics and midfire / later fire flames below. I use an O2 probe and built monitoring equipment, so a bit unfair, but a way to learn / teach basic reduction.
What works best for you and your glazes you will figure out - have fun firing!

This! is what I just discovered 5 min ago when I downloaded an app for recipes Potter's Pal, it was showing that in any recipes fluxes are 1 in total, and I understood that as if it was # of fluxes in the formula and the app gets it to 1 proportionally. I didn't catch it before, I watched videos, read articles, etc... Wasn't sure, but you confirmed it! thank you! I have to process it now, then I come back.

Okay, so the first firing went pretty well.  The reduction worked well and it got to the correct temp...eventually.  I think I started at a lower temp in the morning than I used to with my old updraft kiln.  Therefore, it would take longer to get to Cone 10 by the end of the day.  So, I'll have to see how the next firing goes. 
Do I need to do a "Strike" at the end?   During a reduction firing in my updraft kiln, once the kiln got to 2350F,  I would close the flue almost completely for about 20 min. and this helped the reds and rutile glazes really mature and come out better.  I didn't do that with the downdraft kiln and the reds and rutiles came out really well.  Is this typical of a downdraft kiln?
Thanks for all the advice and help

IMHO that really does looks like a bloat/bleb from an air bubble in the clay wall. When the glaze melts it seals the clay over so the gas can't escape and you get those bloats/blebs. 
After wedging your usual way try slicing a few chunks of clay up into thin slices and look for air pockets. Keep doing this until you can wedge without getting them. Try cut and slam wedging also if you don't already do this.
I'ld also suggest doing some absorption tests on your claybody given it is being fired below it's maturity, how to that here if you need it, about 2/3 the way down.

This looks like one of those miracle clays but is really a cone 9/10 clay to get full verification. So it ought not bloat at cone 6/7. Can you post a picture or pictures of the defects you are seeing?

Hi Lindsay, welcome to the Forum!
Slowing your bisque - allowing more time to burn out impurities may help.
Choosing clay(s) that mature at your target temperature, I'll recommend that!
Are you firing your wares twice - bisque fire, then hotter glaze fire? 
...or are you single firing?
Either way, faster ramp up to target temp means less time to burn out impurities; your prior kiln allowed much more time.
Slowing your bisque fire, particularly around 1500-1800°F might help.
Adequate oxygen may also be important*.
If the clay hasn't changed, and you're firing to the same target temperature (verified by cones), the firing schedule is a likely culprit.
I'm seeing much less defects** since adding significant delays (on the ramp up and the ramp down) to my bisque schedule.
Bloating (digitalfire.com)
* Note the last sentence here: Kiln venting system (digitalfire.com)
**bloating in dark clays, particularly where the walls are smidge thicker;
"large particle defect" - random craters;
pinholes
 

This looks like one of those miracle clays but is really a cone 9/10 clay to get full verification. So it ought not bloat at cone 6/7. Can you post a picture or pictures of the defects you are seeing?

Likely need thin the glaze to spray. Dry the glaze as needed with half pull of the spray gun trigger - air only - should make spraying more doable. It’s good practice to learn the thickness with some test tape when spraying with glaze, since it’s thin to work in the sprayer it will go on very even, but thinner than dipping. Usually requires several even coats dryed in between by “air only“ from the sprayer. Don’t forget proper  mask and ventilation!

It’s a wheel, at 2.2 amps you are free to use most any three wire extension cord. So 3 wire 16/3, maybe 15 ft is rated well beyond your wheel. I would change the receptacle it is plugged into to a gfi receptacle  with appropriate cover from weather. You can buy a cord with the gfi built in, but they are fairly pricey.  I would not use this outdoors unless protected by a GFI though. A GFI can only protect you if the cord has all three prongs and the wheel has a three prong plug.

Thanks for the quick replies!
The vent chimney is higher than their roof, but theirs is a one-story building, and mine two, so it's on the same height as my window.
I guess I'll ask them.
 
 

Good question!
If temporary, a large vinyl flooring remnant could be an option?
Where the edges are well away from the activity, a damp mop makes cleaning up easy.
If the edges turn up at the wall/baseboard (wall to wall!), then doing something at the door(s) to mitigate the tripping hazard remains.
If permanent, vinyl might still be an option, but putting something flat, dense, and smooth under is likely required.

Cowley Double Drive, hmm, made in New Zealand?
"Double" - perhaps on account of familiar cone and drive ring speed is reduced by pulleys and belt to the wheel head shaft...
Which model? ...there may be a model and serial number somewhere.
Here's an "Operating Manual" dated 2018 cowley_wheel_manual.pdf (bathpotters.co.uk)
Newer manual includes parts diagram and list, alas, no wiring diagram MASTER Pottery Wheels Owners Manual Jan 2024.pdf (wsimg.com)
The vendor (firedupkilns) may be able to help, however.
 
 

The chain won't short out a thermocouple connection permanently, it'll just make it read funny while it's touching. Double check your thermocouple connections at both the thermocouple end and the controller end. Make sure the +/- wires are in the correct positions.  On type K thermocouples, yellow is positive, red it negative. Maker sure the thermocouple isn't too close to the metal casing on the kiln.

I just made my morning tea- porcelain mug with water in it, microwaved for 2 minutes. The water is too hot to drink, but the mug handle is very cool, like maybe 85 degrees instead of room temp. I'm going to call that microwave safe.

Excited that I retired this load and we changed the breaker and it worked. I do think after the advice I received here we are going to make some changes.  Thanks again everyone 

Yep, our porcelain plucks. But kiln wash is super easy, super smooth or a little alumina works just fine for us.  Cone 10 furniture plucks as well but dipping the ends of furniture in kiln wash is super effective and lasts many, many firings. The weight of each load is 30-60 % lighter than ordinary shelves so to us they are worth it in reduced energy alone.

Yep, our porcelain plucks. But kiln wash is super easy, super smooth or a little alumina works just fine for us.  Cone 10 furniture plucks as well but dipping the ends of furniture in kiln wash is super effective and lasts many, many firings. The weight of each load is 30-60 % lighter than ordinary shelves so to us they are worth it in reduced energy alone.

1353 is cone 017 ish. I assume you were trying to go to cone 04. I would suggest refine to 04, hopefully you are using cones. Bisque firing removes organics and chemically combined water so how much time and how much time at temperature is the important part. I would troubleshoot the kiln, fix it then re-bisque to desired cone.

Ya probably already know this but worth mentioning I think. Breakers fail because they are old but also because they overheat. Here in the US the breakers you buy should not exceed 80% of the rating stamped on the breaker.  For kilns which are considered continuous loads by code, per code they require a breaker at least 125% of the kiln full load and not more than 150%. 
For a kiln that draws 40 amps, minimum breaker size is 50 amps (40X 1.25), maximum breaker size is 60 amps (40X1.5). I mention because electricians often get this wrong. The rule is there to prevent the breaker from overheating and failing prematurely. Often this is not common knowledge so I think worth passing along since you just experienced a worn out breaker on this kiln.

FYI - Quite often once fire folks will do a single firing at bisque speeds. In effect a bisque first to burnout everything then continue on to glaze temp, usually for tested clay and glaze products that work well this way without excessive glaze defects. If their clay is known clean or tested with a glaze known to work without issue then not so much at the reduced speed but the tested speed. I would not ignore the time at temperature unless verified ok through prior testing.

1353 is cone 017 ish. I assume you were trying to go to cone 04. I would suggest refine to 04, hopefully you are using cones. Bisque firing removes organics and chemically combined water so how much time and how much time at temperature is the important part. I would troubleshoot the kiln, fix it then re-bisque to desired cone.