Cavy Fire Studios Posted December 19, 2016 Report Share Posted December 19, 2016 So, uh... Ha. Crap. I was messing with Fred's plug into the wall, when, "POP POP SPARK POP!!" Geh. But! He worked! He was buzzing and his indicator light was shining a bright, healthy orange. So, I put his lowest switch on "low" to preheat my precious fox head sculpture and a few more things. Then, after a couple hours, I put the mid and top switches on "low." After waiting five hours, I switched 'em to "med." Finally, after six more hours, I went out to the garage to switch him up to "high..." ...buuuut...I noticed the snow wasn't cleared away from the exhaust vent. Ohhh crap. So, I tucked my hand into my sleeve and pulled out one of the spy hole plugs... PITCH. BLACK. OMG. Fred was warm, but not so warm I couldn't touch his lid bare handed. The switches buzzed like they always do when I turn up the power, but the elements didn't heat up and glow at all!! HNNNGHHH and I can't get into the dang power box until tomorrow, because it's freaking midnight, 9F outside in the garage, and my stupid useless hands just can't work fine tools when it's that cold. Do any of you have any idea what is happening to my poor Fred? He's an ooooold man, and I hope that power burst didn't break him!! I'll be devastated... my hunny's and mom's Xmas presents are in there! :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted December 19, 2016 Report Share Posted December 19, 2016 The power light doesn't mean anything other than there's power to the light. But it's no indicator of the rest of the kiln working. There's a lot of possibilities as to what's wrong, so you'll have to go through the system to find the problem. Could be a connection anywhere along the line, or a switch, or the sitter. What is the model of the kiln? 240V or 120V? What exactly were you doing when it sparked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 19, 2016 Report Share Posted December 19, 2016 I was messing with Fred's plug into the wall, when, "POP POP SPARK POP!!" Did the "POP POP SPARK POP" come from the plug or the kiln? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankbonatelli Posted December 19, 2016 Report Share Posted December 19, 2016 Yes if it was in the plug (after market plug from hard ware store could be as simple as one poll has come loose. Start simple and work in. Breaker, plug, where cord connects to sitter. The simple to fix places are always good starting point. Good luk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted December 19, 2016 Report Share Posted December 19, 2016 Sounds like the problem I had with a plug, check it and see if some of the outer coating is melted. Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted December 19, 2016 Report Share Posted December 19, 2016 Does the plug not have a switch to turn it off before plugging/unplugging? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavy Fire Studios Posted December 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2016 I didn't kill Fred!! YAAAY! ...I DID kill the plug, though... >.> One of the connectors inside the plug came loose and fried the ground wire. I got a new plug, but I gotta wait for my neighbor to help me feex. I also opened up Fred's boxes and everything is aces! ♥ Yikes...So much for Xmas presents getting done on time. Aaaalways something!! >_< Frank was right, btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted December 19, 2016 Report Share Posted December 19, 2016 If plug was fried, why did Fred's switch come on, I would have thought Fried wall plug means no on light and "buzzing" at kiln....but so glad it was that simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankbonatelli Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 Two forty volt systems will do this all the time. Was my first thought for older systems. Light works off of the one pole (120v 120v vand a common) one can get loose or burned off leaving the other pole to still drive the 120 components with in. Still time for an Xmas firing. Ill be doing our last glaze firing on Thursday. Either way this is a good Christmas miracle for ending the year on. Merry Christmas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mug Posted December 20, 2016 Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 I'm happy to hear it all worked out. In the future for those of you who may not know what to look for.... A spark, b-z-z-t-t-t, snap, crackle, pop any unusual visual display, abnormally high temperature, or noise is good indicator somethings not right. A loose connection on a plug, breaker, ect. Shut The Power OFF and check it out immediately. If you can't find the cause it's best to call in a second pare of eyes to give it a second look. If it's a loose connection, simply tightening the screw will save the day, the part, and possibly your building. Sometime the possible points of failure are in more that one spot and you'll want to check every screw and every mechanical contact point. Screws sometimes work loose, breakers start to fail, things get hot because they are loose, then get exponentially worse and they short cause fires and ruin parts. There are lots of people who hate working with anything electrical and may unknowingly overlook a potentially dangerous situation. I'm very OCD when it comes to electrical. While servicing and installing electrical devises I've seen lots of electrical things fail over the years and to me this is common sense. Double and triple check yourself if it's necessary, OCD can be a good thing when working with electricity. I hope this may help someone avoid problems in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavy Fire Studios Posted December 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2016 Right again, Frank! And my Fred is around 50 years old! ♥ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted December 21, 2016 Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 so glad fred is happy now. let us see the end results of your beautiful work, guinea, you know we all appreciate them and secretly envy your skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Beller Diesel Posted December 21, 2016 Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 Hooray for Fred! I was worried about the guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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