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Posts I've Made

In Topic: Room Temperature during glaze firing

Posted 20 May 2013

potterychick, on 19 May 2013 - 09:28 AM, said:
Can anyone tell me why this is happening. I have a Vent Master down draft on the kiln - it just had parts replaced. The room temperature is creeping up to 100 degrees and have to run many fans, doors open to keep it at bay. Last week's firing got so hot in the room that the controller shut down and I had to do a re-fire. Could this be a problem with the lid? I have had this kiln for 6 years and have never had this problem before. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

I know you are already using a fan to cool off the kiln's switch box. From your description, you are aiming it at the front of the box. It may help, though, to aim a fan into the louvers on the side of the switch box. The air should go into the louvers on one side of the box and out the louvers on the opposite side. Or you could aim the fan upward into the bottom louvers of the switch box. The fan doesn't have to be large. A fan with 4" blades is adequate. Just a gentle movement of air is sufficient. You also won't need an AC unit.

As I understand, the room temperature is 100 degrees F. Where are you measuring the temperature? How far away is the thermometer from the kiln?

Sincerely,

Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
In Topic: Paragon Electric Kiln - voltage?

Posted 8 May 2013

pub58pottery, on 08 May 2013 - 10:52 AM, said:
so i got this kiln for free and im not sure what the voltage should be - the tag on the outside say 220 but saw 110v elsewhere and then the outlet plug just throws me

The A-66B requires a 4-wire, 120/240 volt, 30 amp circuit with a 14-30R receptacle. The kiln uses 120 volts on Low and Medium and 240 volts on High. The neutral carries current, and so the fourth wire is necessary as a grounding wire.

Sincerely,

Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
In Topic: Cone offset

Posted 3 May 2013

Claypple, on 02 May 2013 - 09:33 PM, said:
Why do all new kilns require reprogramming? I mean the cone offsetting?
I was glazing at ^6 on a new kiln and had a big over-firing (it went up to cone 7 instead).
I checked the temperature and found the glazing at ^6 was programmed to go up to 2238F instead of 2199F as the manual suggested.

Yes, I know, the Temperature is not equal to cone, it is all about the heat-work, but it was not firing for a shorter time either.
Yes, I did the test firing with the kiln furniture in.
I also realize that the thermocouple requires a tune-up at first, but I do not think I was off-setting the thermocouple but the final temperature programmed by the manufacture, did I?

I would first make sure the thermocouple(s) extends into the firing chamber by the correct distance.

The actual temperature that the kiln reached doesn't matter as much as the bending of witness cones. You could program a cone 5 instead of 6 in Cone-Fire, use Ramp-Hold mode and incrementally adjust the temperatures, or adjust Cone Offset. Adjust the controller to bend the witness cones.

Sincerely,

Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
In Topic: My weird kiln won't reach temp

Posted 26 Apr 2013

vervain, on 26 April 2013 - 07:48 AM, said:
Now, I know there are a number of troubleshooting threads on here about kilns not reaching temperature, but my problem is a little more complicated. See, I have an old Nova 18 kiln. Its a ceramic fiber kiln where the elements are embedded in the walls.

I'm trying to fire to cone 6, and have successfully done so many times before, but this time (probably because I have a show the first week in May, and hey, what could stress me out more?) it will. not. reach. temp. And it is SO CLOSE.

I think your elements are starting to age. If I were you, I would fire the kiln only to lower temperatures.

Sincerely,

Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
In Topic: Hold Limitations on Electric Kiln ?

Posted 17 Apr 2013

Stephen, on 17 April 2013 - 02:17 PM, said:
I have a glaze firing schedule programmed in my kiln controller (Bartlett) that goes to cone 6 and holds for 15 minutes and then ramps down. I just assumed that the electronics monitors the temp and then once cone 6 is reached the elements are turned on and off to achieve a hold at that cone 6 temp for 15 minutes. Are you saying that instead it just continues to whatever temp the elements are capable of achieving for 15 additional minutes and then starts the ramp down?

The temperature during a hold remains steady. It shouldn't increase. However, the clay will continue to absorb heat work during the hold. This can actually fire the clay to a higher cone than the one that you have programmed. Typically, 45 - 60 minutes of hold = one additional cone of heat work.

Sincerely,

Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com