How do you all fix rust on your kilns?

[Liam V]

Did a firing with some pieces that were a tiny bit moist (was getting too close to an order deadline), ended up with rusting outside the uppermost peephole and on the lid, as well as a few exploded pots.

How do you guys clean up rust? Scrub with vinegar and leave it, or cover it with some sort of rust resist?

If I leave the rust there, is it likely to worsen over time?

Cheers guys

P.s. I've added some photos, please enjoy my skinny legs.

[Bill Kielb]

Wow, so much for high quality stainless. Well stainless steel is mostly steel with a protective layer of chromium oxide. If this were an appliance then cleaning with liquid bar keepers  friend and repolishing would be the suggestion but this damage is pretty severe. If you need to make it spifffy then all the rust needs to be removed which generally means we will ruin the oxide layer protecting it and it likely won’t self heal.

which means maybe planning on selectively applying rust converting primer  after grinding and then tape and spray this area with super high temp paint. I have done these repairs outlining the hole with a neatly taped circle or rounded corner square in flat black high temp exhaust pipe paint and they look pretty decent for many years.

My other idea would be clean up as good as you can and spray cold galvanizing spray very selectively to keep future corrosion away.

[Mark C.]

your kiln is not rusty at all

I can see you in the reflection

heres mine -You cannot see a thing in reflection

and how I,m fixing it below link

 

https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/21220-skutt-1227-rebuild-older-manual-kiln/?tab=comments#comment-170432

 

 

 

[Bill Kielb]

@Mark C.
Bottom band still polished, I would call Skutt and claim the upper bands were obviously substandard and they need to send you new ones for free!

[Mark C.]

The bottom band is two years old. The rest are about from 1993-substandard  really does not do it justice. I have two other skutt kilns far older than 93 and they are shiny still.

As I have said they used inferior stainless for awhile in the 90s-heck back then the screws where steel as well.It all added up to about 4-5 $ saving per kiln I'm sure.

I have new ones and about everything else in a box waiting for xmas sales to end to install.

[neilestrick]

Rust is normal, and unavoidable. Certain brands may rust faster than others, but it's going to happen to all kilns to some degree. Even if it doesn't rust, you'll still get corrosion from all the sulfur and other stuff burning out of the clay.

[JohnnyK]

KRUD KUTTER MR32 The Must For Rust, 32-Ounce Trigger Spray  can be bought on Amazon for about $12. It is, by far, the best rust remover that I've ever used in almost 40 years in the construction business. It used to be called MR7. The problem you will have is continued oxidation in the area that is rusty now,  If you can find a high heat chrome or silver paint, you can make it look better for awhile, but the core problem will not go away. If you're really concerned...replace the band.

[Liam V]

21 hours ago, Mark C. said:

your kiln is not rusty at all

I can see you in the reflection

heres mine -You cannot see a thing in reflection

and how I,m fixing it below link

 

https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/21220-skutt-1227-rebuild-older-manual-kiln/?tab=comments#comment-170432

 

 

 

My kiln is still very new, I have only owned it for a few months; your kiln is what I see in my nightmares

 

@JohnnyK I'll see if I can find a high heat chrome spray, thank you!

[liambesaw]

Wow it's doing that after a few months??  My kiln was 10 years old when I bought it and since then I've been firing it twice a week outdoors, and no rust.  That's a little concerning...

[Hulk]

That lil' ring of corrosion around the peep shouldn't hurt anything.

The stainless grades higher in chromium and including nickel will never show red or black rust, however, the less expensive stuff... No doubt a magnet will stick to that Liam V? Hrrm, I'm curious now, is that band even stainless steel at all, or is it plated steel? Does your fingernail catch on the edge of the bright stuff where the rust begins? Looks like plating. What brand o' kiln may I ask?

The buckles and screws rusted off my circa 1988 Skutt a very long time ago. There's some rust on the bands as well, not too bad; the fastening hardware that holds the bands is what I'm watching, as the time they'd let go would likely be at peak glaze fire temp, eh? I'm also watching the lid hinge hardware. The portion of the stand in contact with the bottom of the kiln had lost all its galvanize, well on its way to collapse; that's been built back up with angle stock and carriage bolts - watching that as well.

Any road, if ever another/new kiln, I won't stand for hardware that isn't spec'd for high temp corrosive environment. D'y'hear me there you all kiln manufacturers?

[Mark C.]

I may have to buff mine out with that KRUD KUTTER MR32 -this will be the test for that stuff. Of course the handles and latches are hanging my a thread as they are rusted 90% off the metal now.I'm not so sure KRUD KUTTER MR32   will give me a shiny surface after say two weeks of elbow grease rubbing.

I was hoping for a miracle I just did not think about a miracle  product.

Now I will have to put it in my cart.

[Liam V]

@Hulk I have the Olympic MAS1818HE. Just checked, I can scratch the rust off with my finger, as it is raised from the surface of the kiln. It is also magnetic.

Am I dealing with inferior quality materials? When would it be appropriate to invoke my kiln warranty?

[oldlady]

from posts here in the past, i remember that Olympic is not a well respected manufacturer.   in fact, years ago, a guy in Ohio(?) was talking about his and when several people told him that his kiln was not the best, he removed everything he had ever posted on this website and never came back.

[Hulk]

Stainless steel that a magnet will stick to is typically 400 series, not necessarily bad, however, less resistant to corrosion than 300 series (per my recollection...). Choosing the right/best material, how tough includes difficult to work with as well as abrasion and corrosion resistance, eh? There are other factors, e.g. temperature range, can be heat treated, can be easily welded, etc., however, just skip to cost of material and easy to work with. Olympic website indicates "...stainless steel jacket..."

We see (per posts in this thread, and other threads in this site) that some kiln jackets corrode.

I'm sticking with "Any road, if ever another/new kiln, I won't stand for hardware that isn't spec'd for high temp corrosive environment." Meanwhile, I'm good with my used and corroding kiln - knew what I was getting into when I bought it.

Olympic warrantee, one year, hmm. The brand I'd likely choose (if/when I shop for a brand new kiln) offers five and three year warrantees.

Even the best kilns will likely corrode some - a bit of discoloration, perhaps a pit here and there - due to high temperatures, corrosive gasses (from your clays and glazes), poor circulation... Downdraft venting is the way to go (where fumes vented to outdoors) btw; the corrosive gases that rusted your jacket will also make you sick.

 

[neilestrick]

5 hours ago, Liam V said:

@Hulk I have the Olympic MAS1818HE. Just checked, I can scratch the rust off with my finger, as it is raised from the surface of the kiln. It is also magnetic.

Am I dealing with inferior quality materials? When would it be appropriate to invoke my kiln warranty?

Chances are they will not cover the rust around the peep holes because it is not a manufacturing defect and does not affect the function of the kiln. Olympic has a 1 year warranty on their kilns. Paragon has warranties from 3 months to 2 years depending on the model, but 1 year on most round kilns other than the Viking which is 2 years. Skutt, Bailey, and ConeArt have a 2 year warranty. L&L has a 3 year warranty on all models except the School-Master series, which have a 5 year warranty. All of them have a lot of exclusions, because there are all sorts of things that people do to kilns that ruin them. In general, metal corrosion is not covered because you could be firing something in there that's promoting the corrosion. I'm not saying you did, but the kiln companies would be bankrupt if they replaced every part that someone ruined by abuse. You could ask them, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The rust won't hurt the performance of the kiln, though, and that's what's most important.

To answer your questions, yes, you probably are dealing with inferior materials. That may be one reason Olympic kilns are some of the lowest priced kilns on the market. You should contact them right away if you want to make a warranty claim.

[Liam V]

@oldlady @neilestrickI had heard that Olympic kilns were not of the best quality but was unable to find any other top-loader brands in Australia that did not require importation from America.

@HulkI honestly have not had much trouble with the kiln, although the people who sold it to me told me the kiln did not require ventilation as it is so small (which I felt a little bit skeptical of). It is situated in the garage, so I'm not too worried about the fumes anyway.

I'm probably just going to ignore the rust for now, and demote this kiln to a bisque fire kiln once I sell enough pottery to purchase a better one.

[neilestrick]

1 hour ago, Liam V said:

@oldlady @neilestrickI had heard that Olympic kilns were not of the best quality but was unable to find any other top-loader brands in Australia that did not require importation from America.

@HulkI honestly have not had much trouble with the kiln, although the people who sold it to me told me the kiln did not require ventilation as it is so small (which I felt a little bit skeptical of). It is situated in the garage, so I'm not too worried about the fumes anyway.

I'm probably just going to ignore the rust for now, and demote this kiln to a bisque fire kiln once I sell enough pottery to purchase a better one.

The kiln will do what it's supposed to do. There's no reason you can't use it as a glaze kiln. You'll get more moisture and therefore corrosion in a bisque firing than you will from glaze firing anyway.

[Mark C.]

That rust cutter stuff really works well

before and after photos

 

[Bill Kielb]

17 minutes ago, Mark C. said:

That rust cutter stuff really works well

before and after photos

 

Even grew new elements.

[Stephen]

On 1/6/2020 at 5:58 AM, Liam V said:

@oldlady @neilestrickI had heard that Olympic kilns were not of the best quality but was unable to find any other top-loader brands in Australia that did not require importation from America.

@HulkI honestly have not had much trouble with the kiln, although the people who sold it to me told me the kiln did not require ventilation as it is so small (which I felt a little bit skeptical of). It is situated in the garage, so I'm not too worried about the fumes anyway.

I'm probably just going to ignore the rust for now, and demote this kiln to a bisque fire kiln once I sell enough pottery to purchase a better one.

Ya know you pulled the trigger and you bought the kiln so I would just move on and not give it another thought. A little rust around the peep could be fixed or left but certainly no reason to fret. It's a tool, just use it until it no longer does the job and that will likely be decades. I am an equip junkie too but don't obsess over this stuff pottery equip gets dirty, rusted, dented and breaks. Most of it will outlast us and if something doesn't then try to get a better one next time. shinny kilns don't make better pots.