Andere

I'd love to; landlord and electrician don't see the need at this time, but hoping with building community momentum a) the kiln will be seen as a thing of value and not a liability and b) the electrician will agree that it's necessary to follow manufacturer's specs (It's not that we can't pay this man to put in a 60 amp, he won't entertain the thought) So we work as well as we can with exactly what we have!

It's a 48 amp kiln on an (old) 50 amp circuit. It should be on a 60, but that isn't available and isn't going to be available. Breaker tripped after about twenty minutes on high and underfired. We refired and got to temp (warm kiln, dry ware, fast firing etc) but electrician is concerned it won't hold for long enough to reach 6. So, 05 it is (perfect for single-firing the school kids craft projects and getting folks used to the idea of the kiln and its value to the community) The shortest time on high is better at this point. I had some coworkers who had experience with functional ware and intended to set up shop for cone 6 glazing, but they have since moved elsewhere and all the schoolkid stuff is low-fire, so at this point we do not need cone 6 range and wouldn't be firing that high even of we could. It's a happy medium.

Thought I'd circle back on this one- the kiln has now successfully fired to 05 on a 50 amp circuit, and that's as high as we'll push it on this electrical system. It's working great for testing local backyard and wild clays and for single-firing craft projects. Someday if we can get it onto a 60 amp we'll increase the temp range. But for now it works, and is bringing us a lot of joy! So thanks everyone who encouraged and advised!

Someday, I hope we get that far! It'll be outdoors, so the kiln won't be a permanent fixture and it's very unlikely there will be both a car and a firing cycle needed on the same day. The goal is to meet the need (i.e. talk the landlord into it) of an electric car charging spot (no one has one in the town of a hundred people, but people's out-of-town friends do) that can be used to charge a car two or three times a year, and power the kiln two or three times a year. The kiln will be moved, set up, loaded, plugged in, etc. etc. for each firing cycle. Highly not ideal, I know, but its the high desert- getting a few weeks of zero chance of rain is pretty easy, and since we all rent, an indoor or hardwired kiln is not an option for the foreseeable future. This kiln is very mobile in its modular form and has been moved upstairs, downstairs, through various basements, into and out of several vehicles, etc. We're getting pretty good at it.

Replaced all the elements, replaced the connectors (got them crimped real good,) replaced the sitter tube, replaced a couple bricks... if anyone's curious, a kiln picked up at a garage sale for $175-$250 (no one can remember exactly what we paid for it) has cost about $600 total. For a working kiln with new elements, of this size, that seems a fair price! ...and we are really hoping we got the kiln sitter back together in the right order. It was a fun little puzzle to assemble and the diagram in that Skutt PDF is super fuzzy. Next step is a place to plug it in. We got permission to test it on a local 208 welding circuit, but it requires use of an extension cord and that isn't going to tell us if we can reach cone 6. Since wiring is required, we're seeing if we can combine the 'need a place to plug in the kiln' with 'need a place to charge an electric car' and solve several problems on one permit + electrician on a different building's 240 circuit since the kiln doesn't need to monopolize its plug.

Awesome, I will give them a call tomorrow. I like the idea of a connector that is re-usable, and doesn't require special tools to install!

Yeah I have no reason to believe they've been replaced; with this much corrosion on the connectors (kiln sitter was fried as well) they are probably original. Everything else looks ok, so I think will pick up elements and connectors separately instead of Olympic's "replacement package," as it contains parts that don't apply to a model this old. I'm wondering if corrosion like this is from the kiln being fire damp. Inside of the kiln shows no corrosion, but it's from the wet side of the west coast and may have been fired with condensation on the external components.

Hey, we're still working on this 70's era Olympic kiln! Cleaning out cobwebs in the wiring and found the connectors were thoroughly corroded and, I'm guessing, not safe to run current through. We were hoping to test fire this weekend but have decided to hold off until we can replace the connectors. What I'm wondering is, is it possible to uncrimp and recrimp with fresh connectors, or is it likely the element pigtail is too weak or short to hold up? There's enough slack in the external wiring to strip back a bit and crimp on fresh wire. It's the element side that concerns me. Seventy-five cent connectors, versus $575 to replace the whole kit & caboodle.