Lucybeaumont

thank you!!

Thanks, I didn't know this and will follow that advice!

Thanks! I feel like some of my insulators weren't lining up properly with the holes which is why they aren't flush. I'll open it back up and see if I can get them in a bit better before I fire it. I didn't know if my kiln was 1 phase or 3 phase, and actually have no idea what that means to be honest! But the drawings looked the same to me...so much to learn! Thank you for your help.

Guys, I fixed it!!! After studying those drawings and looking at my wires I felt pretty confident I had found the problem. Took a chance and it's now fully back to operational! Thanks for all the support! Time for a bisque fire tomorrow!

Here's another pic of that top ring without my lines drawn on it if that's easier to see. It looks like 2 went to 3 when it should have gone to 4.

Bill and Neil, thank you! I think maybe by comparing my wires to the wiring diagram Bill shared I think I see the problem. See attached snapshots for my wiring. It's hard to see so I marked in green where the wires are currently running (all connections are nice and snug). I think the one I drew in red is the mistake I need to fix (green shows how it is, red is where I think it should be instead). My friend helped me with that top one. We labeled wires as we went but between the two of us maybe we didn't put it back the same way it started. Would you guys agree?

Update. After replacing all the elements and running another test——I went from the top 4 rows not glowing (2 elements), to the top 2 rows not glowing (1 element). Boo!! I let it cool and checked all my connections which looked good to me and ran again with same results. I guess at least this confirms it’s not the relay. I’ll let it cool and look again in the morning but more suggestions welcome. Also I noticed the bottom element appears brighter than the rest? Not sure what that means...

Thanks, Jeff! I do have the 1027 (was pretty sure but just ran out to look at what it is labeled with, and yep 1027). The potter I bought the kiln from included a box of new elements with the sale and I'm happy to report I'm halfway through replacing them! She said they were due for replacement and that she had just replaced the relays. It does have a fuse but that appears fine. Fingers crossed it will all work again when I test it.

Great advice!

Thanks everyone, for all of these great suggestions and for all the info/wisdom! I reached out to the potter who I bought the kiln from and she said she had replaced the relays just before she sold it to me. Since I've only fired it 7 times hopefully those are still ok, unless it's just a loose wire type of thing. She also had a box of new elements she had ordered but not yet installed as she thought that would likely need to happen soon. She included that box with the sale of the kiln so I had them all ready to go. A friend who runs a small community arts ceramics studio offered to come over and help and showed me how to replace the elements. Oldlady, I wish I had thought of replacing the brick at the same time, that is a good suggestion! Possibly I could go back and do that but because I had the elements in hand and not the brick it didn't occur to me. My friend walked me through how to change one element. I have decided to do them all since they were all installed at the same time and were equally old so I'll be tackling the rest this week. Fingers crossed when I plug it back in and test again it all glows nicely! I was feeling pretty lost a couple days ago but am more hopeful now...and once again have learned a few things. I did not realize being a potter meant being an electrician! Thanks again!

Hi! I am a fairly new kiln owner, with a used Skutt 1027, set up in my small garage studio. The kiln is visually in great shape, purchased from the original owner who makes and sells her work and kept it well maintained. The elements don't have any visual breaks or bulges. I'm keeping a firing log and have now fired it 7 times, with 3 errors. So not the best track record but I'm learning!! First two were simple/dumb mistakes -- first, an electrical error bc my electrician had wired for 30 amps instead of 60, which we fixed. Second error was when the garage temp got over 100 degrees and kiln shut off. Which I didn't realize would happen but makes sense! After that, I fired a few more times successfully (both bisque and glaze to cone 5 + 6) by opening the garage door at the end of the firing, and putting up a bunch of fans. So fixed that too. Recently, however, I just got another error message, Error 1. I was doing a 06 bisque fire which I started at 11am, and expected would finish by midnight. At 2am however, it was still just at 1800 and temp seemed to be climbing painfully slow (especially as I wanted to go to bed!) ...and at 2:45am I saw the Error 1 code, reached at 1808 degrees. Kiln had been set: cone 06, 1 hour preheat, no hold, medium speed. I only had cone 06 witness cones (I know I should have had 07 and 05 but didn't!!) and they bent completely (one from the bottom shelf is completely melted over flat). From researching online I see that could mean bad relays, old elements, bad thermocouple, or low voltage. But knowing that doesn't exactly let me know where to start! Do witness cones bending mean it did get to temp? And thus it might be a thermocouple problem? Or is it just because it ran so long at a lower temp that it actually reached cone 06 (and beyond) since cones are time + temp factor? I went ahead as a first step and tried what Skutt recommended with running a Ramp + Hold Program (Seg 1, Rate 999 deg/hr, Temp 750) and then with protective glasses on opened each peep hold for a look. This was very very satisfying as I saw that the coils did not glow! Ah ha! The top 4 rows (is that one coil??) remained black. So I guess I change those? Any feedback, advice is much appreciated! Thank you!