TheresaB Posted December 16, 2020 Report Share Posted December 16, 2020 Hello, I am hoping someone can help me, please. My kiln has stopped working. I set the kiln to glaze a piece overnight and it didn't work. The pyrometric bar hasn't altered in appearance and didn't trigger the cut off lever (not sure what it is really called). The timer was set for 5 hours and when i checked it this morning it was in the OFF position. Up until now the k iln has worked fine. I got it second hand about 4 years ago and use it quite regularly for bisque and glaze firings and up until now it hasn't missed a beat. I have attached photographs in the hope that someone may know what the problem is and if it can be fixed. I really hope it can be. Thanks in advance, Theresa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted December 16, 2020 Report Share Posted December 16, 2020 Did it heat up at all? Does it have the Manual/Automatic switch? If so, set it to manual and turn it on at the High Fire setting. Let it run for a while and carefully crack the lid and see if the elements are glowing. Alternatively, put a little piece of paper on each element and turn it on at the High Fire setting. Let it run for a bit, then turn off the kiln and see if the little pieces of paper have burned at all. If it does not have the Manual/Automatic setting, it may take a while before the paper burns. You can usually hear a buzzing if the elements are getting power. 5 hours is really fast for a firing. Check out THIS THREAD that is currently happening for some ideas on slowing down the firing. It would be good to get the firings p to 8 hours or more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheresaB Posted December 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2020 Hi Neil, Thanks for your quick reply! It did heat up - I looked through the top peep hole after about 2 hours and it looked quite hot - it was a bright orange colour. I could hear the clicking noise too as it heated up after I first started it. This model doesn't have a Manual/Automatic switch unfortunately. Thank you for the link to the firing thread, too. Much appreciated. Any other suggestions will also be very much appreciated. I am not sure if I need to get a new kiln sitter assembly, or if there is a problem with the elements in the kiln. Any help is received gratefully :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted December 17, 2020 Report Share Posted December 17, 2020 Use the paper method to make sure all the elements are working. If one or more are out, then either the element is dead or there's a problem with a connection in the control box. If they are all working and it didn't get to temp in the usual time frame, then they are worn and maybe need to be replaced. I'd try a slower firing first to see how it does. The best way to check the elements is to measure the element resistance with a mulit-meter. Most kiln brands have video instructions on how to do that on their web sites. Remember that the timer has nothing to do with how long the firing takes, it just turns the kiln off when the timer hits zero. You'll have to adjust the timer accordingly for a longer firing, which means doing a firing or two to figure out how long it's going to take, and then setting the timer for about 1/2 hour longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheresaB Posted December 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2020 Thank you Neil. I will try the paper method over the next few days and let you know the results. Thank you very much for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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