Monday, January 31, 2011

Kiln Misfire


Yesterday during a glaze fire, my kiln decided it couldn't make it to the programmed temperature in a suitable amount of time. I've had this problem before when the kiln has been overloaded, but that wasn't the case with this load. At least I don't think so. According to the troubleshooting guide, one of the potential causes is worn or broken elements.

So this afternoon when everything was cooled enough to handle I unloaded the pots which all look good and don't appear to be under fired (the kiln controller says it shut down about 20 degrees shy of the programmed temp). I fired the kiln up empty and took it to 700 degrees to see if the elements were all working. And they appear to be all glowing. The middle section looks to be a little brighter than the upper section but it's still intact anyway.

Guess I'll have go do more trouble shooting.
Have a great evening.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trouble Shooting, Mouble Mooting... My least favorite thing, accept when I finally figure it out. Good luck! =)

Sue Pariseau Pottery said...

Totally agree Christine.

Two weeks ago I jinxed this whole thing by tell my husband that I should order some replacement elements and thermocouples since I was due for some sort of failure. Of course I didn't order anything though.