FINALLY Firing Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 Hi All, Looking for some advice. I have an old Cress B-24 electric kiln that my husband refurbished for my. I've successfully fired two bisque batches to Cone 04 and one glaze batch to Cone 5, but this last firing went awry. I was loosely following Zakin's 1-day Cone 6 glaze firing from Electric Kiln Ceramics, but after slowly ramping up (manually), the sitter never tripped and none of my witness cones bent at all (I had put a pack of Cone 4, 5, & 6 in front of the top peephole. I finally gave up after 15 hours as it was 3:00 am, and manually turned the kiln off. I'm using a few Laguna glazes from their Morrocan Sand line and two from Clay Planet, all cone 5/6, on B-mix. Some of the glazes seem fine and others have not matured well, especially interiors of lidded jars. Also have a bit of crawling and cracking, especially on two of the matte glazes (one from each supplier, actually). In addition, in this glaze firing and the last one, using the same glazes and clay body, I'm getting a lot of pinging. I'd like to re-fire and I would also like to add some glaze to some of the pots, but am not sure if that would be a good idea. Any and all advice much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FINALLY Firing Posted December 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 Did I mention I was up until 3:00 AM?!? My kiln is a Cress B-23-H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 Welcome! From my little research that appears to be a cone 6 kiln, which is considered a low fire kiln (don't kill me, it wasn't my naming scheme). You will only be able to hit cone 6 if you have brand new elements, and only for about a couple dozen firings. This explains the inability to reach cone 6 after 13 hours. You can, of course, replace the elements and get to cone 6, however you may want to think about having custom elements made that reach cone 10 so your kiln will be much more functional. This probably means upgrading the wire in the kiln circuit, and the circuit breaker itself, but euclids.com can make the elements for you if you email them and let them know what you're trying to do. Once your heat problem is solved, the glazes will likely behave as they're supposed to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 1 hour ago, FINALLY Firing said: i All, Looking for some advice. I have an old Cress B-24 electric k My kiln is a Cress B-23-H. At first you list B24 -H then 23 H. Which is it? Maybe take a picture of the model and serial number tag and post here. There are several options for these models which might make a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyK Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 4 hours ago, Bill Kielb said: At first you list B24 -H then 23 H. Which is it? Maybe take a picture of the model and serial number tag and post here. There are several options for these models which might make a difference. It would be the B-23-H, Bill. I had one of those a long time ago and was able to get it to ^6 once with an electronic controller. I had gotten it used and fired primarily to 06. i finally sold it as a low-fire kiln after I got a newer ^10 Cress kiln which I never have fired above ^6. New elements or a newer ^10 kiln might be the order of the day for FINALLY... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 6 minutes ago, JohnnyK said: It would be the B-23-H, Bill. I Cress made both, even in 208 v versions. Not sure unless she cofirms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FINALLY Firing Posted December 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 Thank you for all your answers! It is a Cress B-23-H, serial number 7501, 240v, 25 amps. Does that help? I do really want to regularly fire to ^6; we "inherited" this kiln from a friend who asked to store it at our place over 20 years ago and we just got it up and running this past year. I took it to ^5 for my first glaze firing and it seemed to work great. Then a second successful ^04 bisque, and finally this weekend's infinite ^5 firing. If this kiln is not designed to go to cone 6, does it make sense to alter it so that it can? I would love the benefit of your expertise -- I didn't know you could have custom elements made. Would we have to rewire the rest of the kiln to accommodate that change? Much obliged for all of your insights! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 It is a 6000 W kiln which makes it a cone 6 at best. So you likely only can make cone 5/6 firings with very new elements. I was hoping you would say B24 which would have been better. Only way I can think of getting this up there would be to re element it at 8000-9000 watts which is a big task and requires a bit of design and safety work. In the end, it’s no longer a UL approved kiln etc..... so likely in the end a lowfire and bisque kiln with the existing elements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FINALLY Firing Posted December 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 Thanks Bill! Darn! That is too bad. So, my next question is... would it make sense for us to try to re-jigger the kiln? My husband is a mechanical engineer, so we probably COULD do it, but we would need some direction, for sure. Is there a good reference for such a project? If it's really involved, maybe better to try to find a Cone 10 kiln 2nd hand? Best regards, Jenifer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 I like the cone 10 option. Before I returned to school I was an electrician and as such favor electrical engineering so redesigning this is something I might even consider cautiously. Definitely doable at his skill level and likely requires replacing these elements with the cone 10 model assuming they fit or having them custom wound and doing all the right safety sizing with the downstream wiring and controls but it almost makes the kiln unsellable or useable by others as nothing would be as originally designed and approved. Maybe sell this as cone 04 and get yourself a nice cone 10 kiln would be my thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 If you want to keep this kiln and make it a cone 10 kiln, you'll need to call Euclids.com and ask if they can roll elements that will get you there. Doing so will increase the amperage draw of the kiln. Euclids will be able to tell you what that amperage draw will be, and you'll have to make sure the power cord, outlet, circuit breaker and wires can handle that. It's going to need a 40 amp circuit for sure, possibly a 50. Code says that you need a circuit breaker and wiring that is 25% greater than the draw of the kiln. So once you get to 33 amps draw you'll have to go to a 50 amp breaker. That likely means re-wiring. Currently this kiln should be on a 40 amp breaker. You'll also need to make sure the wires inside the control box that connect the elements to the switches, etc. can handle the increased amperage draw. As it is currently set up, they likely used 12 gauge wires, but you'll have to confirm that. Depending on the increased draw and how things are wired for the new elements, those wires may or may not still work. Chances are they will, but I can't say definitively, and I want you to be aware of what may be required. Every wire inside the box should be high temp insulated wire. If the bricks aren't in great condition, I wouldn't necessarily go putting a lot of work into a kiln that old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FINALLY Firing Posted December 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 Wow, Bill and Neil! Thank you so much for the great info and helping me through this! Finally, if we go the route of finding a used Cone 10 kiln, can you suggest good places to look? Is there some kind of online marketplace for ceramic equipment? I've looked on craigslist before with very little luck. Thanks again! Jenifer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 8 minutes ago, FINALLY Firing said: I've looked on craigslist before with very little luck. Thanks again! @liambesaw is pretty good at keeping an eye on Craigslist. I think patience and persistence is necessary. There are other sources such as Facebook, eBay etc.... I think you will get some good info and suggestions short order here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 47 minutes ago, FINALLY Firing said: I've looked on craigslist before with very little luck. You can get alerts from Craigslist so if something comes up you'll get either an email or SMS. How to here on signing up for them. There are also the Facebook groups "Potters Used Tools and Equipment" and "Potter's Attic Again". If you have a local pottery supply place you could see if they have a bulletin board with wanted and for sale equipment also. Even just going in and talking to them could be helpful, they might know of someone who recently bought a new kiln and have a used one for sale. There is also the Community Marketplace on this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FINALLY Firing Posted December 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 Thank you so much for all the help and advice. I’m definitely on the hunt! And one last question... can I use the pots if they seem like the glaze mature? Sone obviously went wrong but others seem ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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