Help with using a Duncan Automatic Teacher-Plus Kiln

[Catatonic]

3 hours ago, neilestrick said:

IMO, these Duncan kilns are not worth the cost of repairing them to original condition, especially since the systems don't seem to perform as well as they should. The simplest solution would be to wire all the elements directly to the power cord and plug it into a wall mounted digital controller. The other option would be to take out all the original controls and rewire them with typical lo-med-hi switches. Unfortunately, those solutions require either a good knowledge of kiln wiring or a fair amount of money.

Neilestrick--I guess I should be glad mine doesn't have the 2 in 1 switch.... Now I have another question which your answer above has inspired:  I have the carcass of another Duncan kiln--in its day it ran 50 amps and was a manual kiln sitter; its actually a 7 sided thing, a bit smaller than the Teaching Kiln. I inherited it free from a friend who was cleaning out her garage and only learned when she delivered it that the cone sitter and switches were gone--all it had was the switch housing (rusty) and a pretty decent power cord. (You get what you pay for, apparently!)

But the bricks is pristine!  I've wondered what I could do with it--is it possible to put new elements in it and wire it to a digital controller as you suggested above? The guy who repaired the Teaching kiln I now have was averse to trying that; he was afraid of liabilities or something legal like that.   XD  Anyway, I am interested in hearing your opinion, O noble kiln sensei!!  

[Smokey2]

Years back I had one of these and as luck has it I found the images I used to sell it on Craig's list.

Ignore the the decal markings on your kiln and take a look at the image. If you look closely you will see some pencil marks and notice the top decal markings is slightly different than the bottom markings

Bisque firing (^04)
1) Set your dial to 9:00 (Low) for one hour
2) Then set your dial to  around 5:30 (Med) for 2 hours
3) Next set your dial to around 2:00 (High) until the sitter drops

Glaze firing (^6)
1) Set your dial to 9:00 (Low) for one hour
2) Then set your dial to  around 5:30 (Med) for 1 hour
3) Next set your dial to around 1:00 (Hi-Fire) until the sitter drops

As you get to know your kiln you will fine tune your firing settings

Edited December 31, 2020 by Smokey2

[neilestrick]

14 hours ago, liambesaw said:

I know someone who recently purchased the timer unit from paragon, so they had them up until at least 3 months ago.  It was expensive but they got the kiln in pretty much new shape so they didn't complain too much

Good to know. Paragon must have some in inventory. $400 gets you halfway to a digital controller....

[neilestrick]

11 hours ago, Catatonic said:

But the bricks is pristine!  I've wondered what I could do with it--is it possible to put new elements in it and wire it to a digital controller as you suggested above? The guy who repaired the Teaching kiln I now have was averse to trying that; he was afraid of liabilities or something legal like that.   XD  Anyway, I am interested in hearing your opinion, O noble kiln sensei!!  

Sounds like it would be a good candidate for the Olympic Electro-Sitter, which replaces the Kiln Sitter. Just wire everything directly to the sitter instead of through switches. Paragon may or may not have elements still available, but if not then call Euclids.com. Probably cheaper through Euclids.

[Catatonic]

On 12/29/2020 at 7:36 AM, Smokey2 said:

Years back I had one of these and as luck has it I found the images I used to sell it on Craig's list.

Ignore the the decal markings on your kiln and take a look at the image. If you look closely you will see some pencil marks and notice the top decal markings is slightly different than the bottom markings

Bisque firing (^04)
1) Set your dial to low for one hour
2) Then set your dial to  around 6:30 (Med) for 2 hours
3) Next set your dial to around 9:30 (High) until the sitter drops

Glaze firing (^6)
1) Set your dial to low for one hour
2) Then set your dial to  around 6:30 (Med) for 1 hour
3) Next set your dial to around 11:00 (Hi-Fire) until the sitter drops

As you get to know your kiln you will fine tune your firing settings

So, after looking closely at your photos and going through your directions, I realized the dial runs counter clockwise, but I think your written directions are intended to go clockwise (that's what 6:30 and 9:30 are meant to represent, yes?) But....do you perhaps mean 5:30 and 3:30? Just want to clarify.... thanks!

Edited December 31, 2020 by Catatonic
grammar

[Smokey2]

Yes, It seems I can't tell my left from my right let alone how to read an analog clock.

Directions are fixed above.

 

[Bill Kielb]

2 hours ago, Catatonic said:

So, after looking closely at your photos and going through your directions, I realized the dial runs counter clockwise, but I think your written directions are intended to go clockwise (that's what 6:30 and 9:30 are meant to represent, yes?) But....do you perhaps mean 5:30 and 3:30? Just want to clarify.... thanks!

Maybe this will help

So these are infinite switches which have operated similarly for the last fifty years or so. So whether a stove burner, toaster, or kiln.........when the dial is marked  as opposed to the back panel surface it maybe becomes more intuitive.
Below: Skutt kiln, Toaster, stove top burner . (Can’t remember which is which though)

Edited January 1, 2021 by Bill Kielb

[Valarie]

I recently  just did my first glaze firing in my Duncan  ES820-2  and it took quite longer than it should. I was constantly monitoring the temp and  think I over adjusted (firing took 11 hrs.)  .  In a perfect world should the top and bottom be set to the same settings at all times? I adjusted them according to the pyrometer (which was in the top peep hole). Once I set it to  HI-FIRE  it shut off in about 45 mins.The firing came out pretty well,  so I don't think I botched it to badly. All of the pieces survived and the glaze looks ok. The top  witness cones did not melt as fully as the bottom shelf. Would you suggest using a cone higher bar in the kiln sitter? I have read it's done because it's so close to the brick and the desired cone isn't actually reached long enough .  I am going to follow your  kiln setting on my next bisque  firing  as well.  Any advice  is appreciated.  Thanks

[Bill Kielb]

10 minutes ago, glazed and confused said:

Would you suggest using a cone higher bar in the kiln sitter?

I don’t think I would as the sitter can be adjusted to act correctly. Now for balancing the kiln, next firing, maybe the bottom is left slightly lower than the top, say one digit.  It’s not uncommon for the tops of electric kilns to run cooler because of the heat loss through the lid. As for speeding up, just modify your schedule slightly and turn up a little quicker as you go. Seven to ten hours is usually fine for glaze. If you can balance top and bottom a bit more this way, easy to adjust your sitter ever so slightly to tweak it back on cone IMO.

[Catatonic]

On 7/29/2020 at 10:16 AM, K S said:

I really like my Duncan Teacher Plus.  Question: For bisque and glaze firing, I start the switch at the 10:00 position, even though no markings are there. I turn the switch to 8:00 position two hours later, 6:00 position two hours later, etc. I keep the toggle at Low Manual. My witness cones from the top, middle and bottom shelves are all the same. Sometimes I do a drop hold on a glaze firing to heal pinholes. Do any of you have a better firing schedule?

K S--I think I may try your firing schedule--this is my third attempt at a bisque firing with my Teacher Plus and each time the sitter drops much earlier than I expect and I'm left wondering if all the organics have burned off. First was an empty kiln, second had only a few pots and a single setting (about 3:00) and those two firings lasted only 4-5 hours. This time I used the schedule Smokey 2 posted above (one hour at 9:00, two hours at 5:30 (which my kiln has marked as Overglaze) and then the rest at 3:00, which my kiln labels Ceramic. It shut off after 7 hours total. My model doesn't have a toggle and has only one dial. I want to get this dialed in before I start messing with glazes! 

So I guess I need to keep playing around. My witness cones were pretty floppy on the upper shelves but nicely arched on the bottom one, so it looks like I'm getting heat pooling higher up. That kind of result is consistent between firings. Don't know how I'm going to balance things with only one control.

I was particularly interested in what you called a "drop hold". Can you explain what that is, and how it works? 

Edited January 8, 2021 by Catatonic
mistake

[JohnS]

On 1/7/2021 at 5:59 AM, Catatonic said:

I think I may try your firing schedule--this is my third attempt at a bisque firing with my Teacher Plus and each time the sitter drops much earlier than I expect and I'm left wondering if all the organics have burned off. First was an empty kiln, second had only a few pots and a single setting (about 3:00) and those two firings lasted only 4-5 hours. This time I used the schedule Smokey 2 posted above (one hour at 9:00, two hours at 5:30 (which my kiln has marked as Overglaze) and then the rest at 3:00, which my kiln labels Ceramic. It shut off after 7 hours total. My model doesn't have a toggle and has only one dial. I want to get this dialed in before I start messing with glazes! 

So I guess I need to keep playing around. My witness cones were pretty floppy on the upper shelves but nicely arched on the bottom one, so it looks like I'm getting heat pooling higher up. That kind of result is consistent between firings. Don't know how I'm going to balance things with only one control.

I was particularly interested in what you called a "drop hold". Can you explain what that is, and how it works? 

Hey Catatonic, 

 

Did you try firing to what the manual said? Cone 7 for bisque and cone 7 for glaze? (It actually says to use cone 7 witness cones on page 11 but I'm unsure why you'd use a cone 7 witness cone but a cone 05ish pyro bar) I'm waiting on cones being delivered over the next few days (I live on an island in Scotland and not easy to get things delivered so quickly, especially just now!) so I've not tested anything yet but been going over the manual and other online resources before they arrive. The point of the automatic is that it shouldn't need any manual input for firings, it should click from one to the other (or so it says in the manual, page 13) so I'm gonna try a few things when they arrive:

 

Do what the manual says - bisque to 6 ( on CERAMIC) and glaze to 6 (on HI-FIRE) 

Bisque to 05 on CERAMIC then glaze to 6 on HI-FIRE 

Then if those don't work ill try smokey02s firing schedule however that's for a slightly different model than the one we have. 

I'll keep you posted with any findings, good or bad! 

[Bill Kielb]

1 hour ago, JohnS said:

Did you try firing to what the manual said? Cone 7 for bisque and cone 7 for glaze? (It actually says to use cone 7 witness cones on page 11 but I'm unsure why you'd use a cone 7 witness cone but a cone 05ish pyro bar)

Read carefully through the threads above. If you bisque fire to cone 7 your ware will be rock hard and you will not be able to glaze it very easily. Page 11 explains that when you use cones to monitor how the firing went (witness cones) to use the three cone method. Guide, firing, guard. So if one was glaze firing to cone 6 they would use cones 5,6,7. The guide is 5, the guard is 7 and the firing cone is 6. Just for reference this kiln just isn’t really automatic by today’s standards. For most firings you will need to turn the infinite switch(s) from a lower setting to a higher setting during the firing to provide enough time to bisque or glaze fire.  I would suggest while you have time to wait for your kiln parts or cones google and read the what’s and why’s of firing schedules. 
 For cone 6 glaze firings- cone 6 bar for the sitter and cone 5,6,7 witness cones. Firing should take let’s say  approximately 7-10 hours.

For cone 04 bisque - cone 04 bar for the sitter and cone 05,04,03 witness cones. Firing should take let’s say approximately 9-12 hours to burn out all the organics. Remember for cones that start with zero (0) they are a bit backwards as cone 03 is hotter than cone 04. So a bit backwards from what is intuitive.

The issue  most folks complain about with these kilns is generally they fire too fast and the resolution is often to have them learn how to turn things up gradually to get an acceptable firing speed.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Bill Kielb

[JohnS]

30 minutes ago, Bill Kielb said:

Read carefully through the threads above. If you bisque fire to cone 7 your ware will be rock hard and you will not be able to glaze it very easily. Page 11 explains that when you use cones to monitor how the firing went (witness cones) to use the three cone method. Guide, firing, guard. So if one was glaze firing to cone 6 they would use cones 5,6,7. The guide is 5, the guard is 7 and the firing cone is 6. Just for reference this kiln just isn’t really automatic by today’s standards. For most firings you will need to turn the infinite switch(s) from a lower setting to a higher setting during the firing to provide enough time to bisque or glaze fire.  I would suggest while you have time to wait for your kiln parts or cones google and read the what’s and why’s of firing schedules. 
 For cone 6 glaze firings- cone 6 bar for the sitter and cone 5,6,7 witness cones. Firing should take let’s say  approximately 7-10 hours.

For cone 04 bisque - cone 04 bar for the sitter and cone 05,04,03 witness cones. Firing should take let’s say approximately 9-12 hours to burn out all the organics. Remember for cones that start with zero (0) they are a bit backwards as cone 03 is hotter than cone 04. So a bit backwards from what is intuitive.

The issue  most folks complain about with these kilns is generally they fire too fast and the resolution is often to have them learn how to turn things up gradually to get an acceptable firing speed.

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

[Bill Kielb]

11 minutes ago, JohnS said:

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 

Definitely learn your kiln. Your manual is newer than the manual posted above. For the common issue of firings ending too quickly I suspect most end up wishing they would have simply printed power level numbers from zero to 10 instead of what they did.

It really comes down to a reasonable firing speed of approximately 200 f degrees per hour for bisque and 400-500f degrees per hour firing speed for glaze with the final segment of 200 degrees or so being done at about 100 f degrees per hour.

Today’s automatic controls know this and have default schedules built in. They are truly automatic.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Bill Kielb

[JohnS]

44 minutes ago, Bill Kielb said:

Definitely learn your kiln. Your manual is newer than the manual posted above. For the common issue of firings ending too quickly I suspect most end up wishing they would have simply printed power level numbers from zero to 10 instead of what they did.

It really comes down to a reasonable firing speed of approximately 200 f degrees per hour for bisque and 400-500f degrees per hour firing speed for glaze with the final segment of 200 degrees or so being done at about 100 f degrees per hour.

Today’s automatic controls know this and have default schedules built in. They are truly automatic.

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

 

[Catatonic]

John S--I've had the same problem with the manual you have--it tells you something quite different from what actual, experienced potters are saying about firing. That's why I'm hanging out with the pros on this thread!  (Sorry guys, but it's much more time efficient picking  brains here than reading the manual! And thanks for being willing to share your knowledge!)

Yes, I've concluded my kiln is a starter. When I either become more wealthy or my kids move out (don't those conditions often coincide???) I'll consider investing in an automatic. Cheers to you in Scotland. Spent 6 months there in 1986 and loved it, rain and all. What island are you on?

[JohnS]

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! 

[Catatonic]

JohnS--what a pain--I hope its a simple fix!   I did visit Skye--rode a bike from Glencoe (worked at the Clachaig Inn at the time) up to Fort William, caught a ferry and biked around the island and you're right--not much rain.  Made the mistake of attending an INDOOR piping competition and had my ears blown right out! But mostly I enjoyed the hills and the coastline--high cliffs and lots of basalt. Gorgeous. 

Edited January 8, 2021 by Catatonic

[Catatonic]

On 1/8/2021 at 4:14 AM, JohnS said:

Firing should take let’s say approximately 9-12 hours to burn out all the organics.

Quote is actually a quote of Bill Klieb, so Bill, can you answer my question? 

If your bisque firing lasted only 7 hours (two hours on low, say, 3:00 position, two hours on "Overglaze" which is about 5:30, and the rest--4 hours--on "Ceramic" which is 2:30) should I bisque again? Still figuring out how to create a good bisque program that burns the organics out.

This morning I'm trying a new "program" (I am the program--wake up, kid, time to turn the dial again...) Started at 10:00 position and moved up to 8:00 two hours later, then two hours later to 7:30 in order to create a slow rise in temperature.  An hour later moved to "Overglaze" (5:30) where we'll sit for another hour and a half before ramping up to Ceramic (2:30). Hoping to get a nice long burn at the 200 degree rise per hour you recommended. Probably time to invest in a pyrometer so I know what its really doing, huh? 

 

[neilestrick]

1 hour ago, Catatonic said:

Probably time to invest in a pyrometer so I know what its really doing, huh? 

That would be the best way to go. Try to slow it down at the high end if possible, like maybe go more smaller turnups once it gets to red heat. Shoot for 100f/hr for the last 200F

[Bill Kielb]

4 hours ago, Catatonic said:

Quote is actually a quote of Bill Klieb, so Bill, can you answer my question

Trial and error for sure. Time is key for some clays, not all clay bodies need the same amount of time actually. So for difficult bodies usually dark and containing iron, sulphur, etc.... often a longer cycle is needed to complete the burnout. Many potters  figure  this out for their clay by experience. 200 degrees per hour is a typical rate that gets this in the 10 hour range and is reasonably slow while greenware goes through some pretty significant changes.

I think if I had the teacher plus I would relabel it from 1-10  instead of overglaze , ceramic etc..... and just learn from repetition what worked best reducing or increasing firings by the numbers as necessary which you are doing at this point,

The only  thought is adding time before your final segment is probably easiest and most effective at keeping the wares at a higher temp for a longer period for more complete burnout without a bunch of thinking.

A pyrometer definitely would remove the mystery for you and is always a good thing to have. Most kilns will only go about 100 degrees per hour at the very top so this works out pretty good when elements are new.

Pyrometers are great and mostly serve to just tell you where you are at. Calculating rate in degrees per hour is often tedious for many as what time frame is a fair representation, or do I simply wait an hour? For gas kilns the quickest we will go is a 5 minute sample, with 15 minutes being more closely representative of the hourly rate.  Many automatic controls will give roughly a rate within the last 22 minutes. 

[JohnS]

On 1/14/2021 at 6:55 PM, Catatonic said:

Quote is actually a quote of Bill Klieb, so Bill, can you answer my question? 

If your bisque firing lasted only 7 hours (two hours on low, say, 3:00 position, two hours on "Overglaze" which is about 5:30, and the rest--4 hours--on "Ceramic" which is 2:30) should I bisque again? Still figuring out how to create a good bisque program that burns the organics out.

This morning I'm trying a new "program" (I am the program--wake up, kid, time to turn the dial again...) Started at 10:00 position and moved up to 8:00 two hours later, then two hours later to 7:30 in order to create a slow rise in temperature.  An hour later moved to "Overglaze" (5:30) where we'll sit for another hour and a half before ramping up to Ceramic (2:30). Hoping to get a nice long burn at the 200 degree rise per hour you recommended. Probably time to invest in a pyrometer so I know what its really doing, huh? 

 

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 

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by JohnS

[Catatonic]

On 6/25/2021 at 5:41 PM, JohnS said:

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 

 

John, here's what I did on my last successful bisque firing, using Bill's recommendation of reimagining the dial. I used "clock settings" though.

I started at 10 o' clock and sat there for two hours, increased to 8:30 for an hour and 50 minutes, then to 7 o' clock for an hour and 10 minutes, then moved to "Overglaze" setting for two hours, then to "Ceramic". It shut off after an additional 2 hours and 40 minutes. Everything seemed to come out nicely and gave me around a 9.5 hour burn.  After this I invested in a pyrometer so I could dial things in more scientifically.

Now for the rest of the story. I did a total of 5 bisque firings with that kiln, and in the last one a couple of elements failed. Barely made it to temp and took ages to get there. So I priced out new elements, which I posted about on another thread. Found a supplier in MI that would make some for about half the price (Not Euclids, regretably). Paid to have them installed because I am not that person.   ;0)    Did a break in firing, which took quite a bit longer than expected, but I was experimenting with the firing schedule, using my shiny new pyrometer to see if I could replicate a "preheat" phase like you can do with a digital controller, so I wrote it off to user error.  (Call me the Queen of Overthink.)  Next I did a glaze load--my very first!  The kiln barely got to cone 04 after 19 hours; I had to shut it off manually. My repairman did some troubleshooting --replacing every. single. part. to determine where the problem was. He did a tweak that improved the firing, but still only got to cone 04. Turned out the elements weren't made to spec--supplier used the wrong gauge wire and too many wraps, ergo, high resistance and low firing temperature. A bit of back and forth between supplier and repairman before this was admitted. Still waiting on the replacement elements, but they did offer store credit for my trouble (after I asked). During that one and only glaze firing I also noticed the fiber lid began to flake and dust onto my glazeware. Began to feel like the person who buys a "bargain car" that always needs repairs and thinks, "once I take care of the radiator, it will be reliable" but then the brakes go out.

After all this my husband made me an offer I could not refuse: just buy a new kiln, get what you want, and be done (he'd just gotten a substantial raise). So I got an L&L Easy fire kiln, adding 50% to my capacity, and got a digital controller to boot.  In the meantime, I did find a rigidizer to treat the kiln lid, so I will sell it, with the replacement elements when they come, to any taker willing to install them on his/her own. After all, it's been fully refurbished after this drama, and has 4 full shelves and a half shelf, all new, a pyrometer with thermocouple already installed, and the lid and floor just treated to harden it.  Hopefully I can recoup some of what I put into it. So there ya have it. My joy is in my new kiln. Best of luck to you with yours. 

This would have been a much better story over a pint in some dusty pub, but best I can do via distance! 

Edited June 28, 2021 by Catatonic

[JohnS]

16 hours ago, Catatonic said:

John, here's what I did on my last successful bisque firing, using Bill's recommendation of reimagining the dial. I used "clock settings" though.

I started at 10 o' clock and sat there for two hours, increased to 8:30 for an hour and 50 minutes, then to 7 o' clock for an hour and 10 minutes, then moved to "Overglaze" setting for two hours, then to "Ceramic". It shut off after an additional 2 hours and 40 minutes. Everything seemed to come out nicely and gave me around a 9.5 hour burn.  After this I invested in a pyrometer so I could dial things in more scientifically.

Now for the rest of the story. I did a total of 5 bisque firings with that kiln, and in the last one a couple of elements failed. Barely made it to temp and took ages to get there. So I priced out new elements, which I posted about on another thread. Found a supplier in MI that would make some for about half the price (Not Euclids, regretably). Paid to have them installed because I am not that person.   ;0)    Did a break in firing, which took quite a bit longer than expected, but I was experimenting with the firing schedule, using my shiny new pyrometer to see if I could replicate a "preheat" phase like you can do with a digital controller, so I wrote it off to user error.  (Call me the Queen of Overthink.)  Next I did a glaze load--my very first!  The kiln barely got to cone 04 after 19 hours; I had to shut it off manually. My repairman did some troubleshooting --replacing every. single. part. to determine where the problem was. He did a tweak that improved the firing, but still only got to cone 04. Turned out the elements weren't made to spec--supplier used the wrong gauge wire and too many wraps, ergo, high resistance and low firing temperature. A bit of back and forth between supplier and repairman before this was admitted. Still waiting on the replacement elements, but they did offer store credit for my trouble (after I asked). During that one and only glaze firing I also noticed the fiber lid began to flake and dust onto my glazeware. Began to feel like the person who buys a "bargain car" that always needs repairs and thinks, "once I take care of the radiator, it will be reliable" but then the brakes go out.

After all this my husband made me an offer I could not refuse: just buy a new kiln, get what you want, and be done (he'd just gotten a substantial raise). So I got an L&L Easy fire kiln, adding 50% to my capacity, and got a digital controller to boot.  In the meantime, I did find a rigidizer to treat the kiln lid, so I will sell it, with the replacement elements when they come, to any taker willing to install them on his/her own. After all, it's been fully refurbished after this drama, and has 4 full shelves and a half shelf, all new, a pyrometer with thermocouple already installed, and the lid and floor just treated to harden it.  Hopefully I can recoup some of what I put into it. So there ya have it. My joy is in my new kiln. Best of luck to you with yours. 

This would have been a much better story over a pint in some dusty pub, but best I can do via distance! 

Haha, great news! Yeah, I'm kinda thinking the same about a new kiln, but at the same time I don't think I'm a million miles away from getting this working so am keen to give it a bash. 

 

Couple of questions if you don't mind:

The dial knob is missing on mine, can you confirm that the flat bit is basically where the arrow would be to indicate what it's pointing at? 

Because there's no knob I'm kinda guessing where things are, so, when I turn the dial (anticlockwise) I eventually get 3 *clicks* but they don't seem to line up with overglaze, ceramic and hi fire, do you get the same with yours and if so at what point do they click. And if you set it to off, does it actually go off, mine doesn't, the orange light would stay on. 

 

Lastly 

 

When I turned the dial to what I thought was ceramic I fired to cone 05 but it reached temp in about 3 hours, I tried doing it at overglaze as well and got the same result. I then tried turning it to probably about 11 o'clock and got it in about 13 hours.  Were you getting this issue as well? 

 

I just ordered a thermometer gun style thingy (technical term) and so am going to measure the actual heat but I'm sure there's a proper method for doing this so going to open a question to the guys and see what the best way to do this is. 

 

Cheers for your comment! 

 

John

Edited June 29, 2021 by JohnS

[Catatonic]

On 6/29/2021 at 5:56 AM, JohnS said:

I just ordered a thermometer gun style thingy (technical term)

Apparently you are just as technical as me, and another cock-eyed optimist to boot! ;0)  I think psychologists call this behavior, "equity rescuing". 

I just checked and yes, the arrow should be in line with the flat part of the --ahem-- thingy. 

That being said, I will mention that this dial was part of the drama I mentioned above. In the first several firings, the arrow coincided with the labels on the face of the control panel, and I got a satisfying click at the Off, Overglaze, Ceramic and Hi Fire positions. Somehow during the firing when the elements first went bad, it went wonky and has remained so ever since (somehow my kiln guy could make it work but I have no idea how.  I will contact him to ask and get back to you on that if you like.)  Now it clicks when the arrow is at the 10 o'clock position, the Hi Fire position and Off. So I'm missing a click, and there's no way to settle if the works behind the dial have offset by some regular interval, such that I could just relabel the dial. And now that I have rewired for the new kiln (different power load) I can't plug it in to test at what setting the elements actually turn on, so sorry, friend. Maybe it needs some new dial works ....thingies... 

Oops, there go the brakes....

=^x^=

Edited June 30, 2021 by Catatonic