Uh Oh, Clay Drying Out In Pugmill

[g-bus]

So I left some clay in my Bluebird 440 pugmill with it pretty well sealed up with plastic (or so I thought) for about a month. Clay still felt somewhat soft, but had obviously hardened up a little bit. I tried firing it up and I guess it was too dry for the motor and tripped the breaker, and got a nice little scent of hot electronics with a little puff of smoke from the motor. I don't think I killed it but I'm sure I didn't do it any favors. It was hard enough that I couldn't pull the housing from around the auger. I poured some water into all of the openings and covered it back up with plastic, hoping to soften the clay up again. Any other suggestions as to dealing with this? How long should I let the water absorb for before trying to start it again and should I add more water occasionally? Thanks for the help!

-Greg

[Mark C.]

Let it soak up the water for 3-5 days. Make sure clay is wet before starting motor again.

Mark

[Marcia Selsor]

use some wet towels and sponges next time when you store it for a month.

[neilestrick]

Leather hard, or wetter than bone dry, clay has a hard time taking in water, so you'll need to let it set quite a while. If you can get to the clay, put some holes in it to help the water penetrate.

[Wyndham]

You might have to take the barrel off to clean it out if the above suggestion don't work for you. Not that hard just a pain.

Wyndham