JohnS

Cool, will check. Not sure on the resistance part yet, need to measure. 
 
I'mcone step away from ordering a new kiln anyway so if there's any drama at all then it's getting used as a bisque or raku kiln in future! 

Phew! Cheers Bill, put my over active mind at rest. 
"Generally clay fluxed reactions take place in the last 100c, last 200c should be pretty safe."
 
Thats great info to have. Thanks. 
 

In the off-chance that any needs to replace the infinite switch - I just replaced mine with this and it works a treat. Very easy to fit, just take out one plug at a time and match it up to the new one. 
 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141185298305?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=4uGYTVfwQOK&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=iC-XyCNQT4W&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
 
And very cheap, cost me £8. 

Can confirm the flat bit is where the centre is, mine doesn't have a knob either and I used a temperature gun to work out the heat output at different positions. 
Flat at 12 o'clock is "off" 

Ha, no problem, after all the help you guys gave it's about time I reciprocated! I've actually got temperatures for each "clock position" for this model that I should post as well, might be useful for people with this same model. 

They're quite heavy so they don't move around a lot. I put mine on the back seat of a convertible mini and drove about 300 miles from the borders of Scotland to the islands and it never moved. If it can take those roads, it can take anything

A quick way to sort this out would be to buy a thermostatic "gun" from amazon.  Mark the clock face around the dial on the kiln and move from where you think is off anti clockwise measuring every 30 mins at each hour (when I did my test I measured every 30 mins and 1 hour at each hour to see if it was increasing). This should give you an idea. 
 
It might just be the case that yours is just going on or off and not stopping at the correct heat, or there could be something with the other switch that you have.  
 
Give the gun a go and mess around with the settings would be my advice to know once and for all. 

Ah right, we have slightly different models so I can't speak as to what's best for that toggle. 
 
I know I made a rookie mistake of firing either not enough pieces or pieces that had been half fired before (because, like you, my firing was too quick). 
 
So certainly what worked for me was (and my kiln is just an automatic so I'm presuming the switch at the auto position might make it similar to mine) - 
 
Set it to auto
Stick in a shelf's worth of stuff
Make sure that both elements are heating up (my switch was bad and only the bottom element was working for me initially - there's another long thread about that) 
Use the firing schedule I posted in the previous comment and ignore the UNDERGLAZE HI FIRE settings etc. Just do it manually. 
Last time I did this it fired in about 9 hours to cone05 whereas before, using the predetermined UNDERGLAZE etc it did it in about 3 as well. I'm guessing that because these kilns are fairly old that the automatic part goes over time. 
Edit - everything is relevant to the flat bit under your dial equalling the direction of the arrow I.E. If the flat bit is at 12 o'clock then when you put the dial back on then the arrow should be at 12 o'clock as well. 
Let us know how you get on. 

Ha, no problem, after all the help you guys gave it's about time I reciprocated! I've actually got temperatures for each "clock position" for this model that I should post as well, might be useful for people with this same model. 

Ha, no problem, after all the help you guys gave it's about time I reciprocated! I've actually got temperatures for each "clock position" for this model that I should post as well, might be useful for people with this same model. 

Ha, no problem, after all the help you guys gave it's about time I reciprocated! I've actually got temperatures for each "clock position" for this model that I should post as well, might be useful for people with this same model. 

Can confirm the flat bit is where the centre is, mine doesn't have a knob either and I used a temperature gun to work out the heat output at different positions. 
Flat at 12 o'clock is "off" 

Can confirm the flat bit is where the centre is, mine doesn't have a knob either and I used a temperature gun to work out the heat output at different positions. 
Flat at 12 o'clock is "off" 

Can confirm the flat bit is where the centre is, mine doesn't have a knob either and I used a temperature gun to work out the heat output at different positions. 
Flat at 12 o'clock is "off" 

Hey, 
I definitely can't help with this question, but... I would suggest starting a new question I case people in future have the same issues - a bit easier for people to search that way. 
 

Hey  @Catatonic, did you ever get a firing schedule that worked? I've only just now got my kiln up and running after having a dodgy relay, which the guys kindly helped me with here, and now looking to get bisque firing, but like you I found that setting to ceramic shuts off after about 3 hours. 
 
Any joy? 
 
Cheers 
 

Catatonic - 
 
Unfortunately due to an electrical issue that's become apparant when hookin up the kiln it's gonna be a wee while until I can report back (raging!). 
 
I'm from Skye, where it doesn't rain as much as people think! 
 
Good luck! 

Cheers Bill, this kiln is defo a starter kiln and we'll see what happens. 
 

Hey Bill, 
 
Thanks for the reply, 
 
Yeah I did think that it didn't make sense to bisque to that cone and was only going to test it out to rule it out. I've attached an image to show what it says on page 11 of the manual, although it mentions the 3 cone method on the previous page, which I understood, the table that it shows doesn't actually say that, it says "commonly used firing cones" and then shows 6-10 which isn't suggesting that you use 3 of these as for stains it just says 04.  That is the confusing part. 
 
Also, the other confusing part in the second image is that it specifically says "firing stages will automatically advance unless power is interrupted" suggesting that no user input is needed, if you have the manual version of this kiln it tells you to start on low for 2 hours then move to high etc, again the confusing part of this is that the wording for the automatic version suggests you don't need to manually do this (hence the automatic). 
 
I'm not doubting you or anyone of course and I'll definitely be trying all methods kindly provided here as well (it does look like people are using different models though). My 06 witness and pyro cones literally just arrived but have to wait on others so I'll give it a go today or tomorrow and see what happens 
 
Cheers 
John

Cheers Bill, this kiln is defo a starter kiln and we'll see what happens.