[PittsGlass]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for being willing to help another glass worker with their kiln. All avenues are worth looking at.

Jan and I have spoken earlier this week. The new element is on the way and we are doing some "testing" to see what we can discover. The rest of the post covers much of the cross posing in the thread and may not be specific to her issue.

A Regular Guy kiln draws 13 amps at peak draw. The recommended amperage for a Regular Guy kiln breaker is 20 amps on its own circuit. A 15 amp will be pushed harder than it should.

There are very few kilns in our database with this kind of failure rate, which is why we call and interview about outside sources such as metals contamination and house wiring issues. I can count the kilns with this issue on one hand out of thousands in studios. I am not saying that Jan's problem is external for certain and am open to other options.

I never assume it to be an outside issue, and always look at all the parts as a whole. When we replace elements we take care to replace all the brick that is in contact with the element as well just to be certain that no remaing element bits can cause an issue with the next element.

Most of the kilns we have out there from 10 years ago are still running strong with an average of one element replacement, many not even one. We have a three year warranty whether your power is running properly or not, no questions asked about responsibility. If you do learn that there is a unidentifiable issue, it gives you lots of time to do research so when the elements are yours to buy, the issue can be fixed and behind you. (again, not saying that this is Jan's issue). And believe me, we don't like a kiln that needs more than an element in the 3 year period. The profit margin is not high, and each element is a cost we'd rather not incur.

A thermocouple error is unlikey as we use a large gauge wire, insulator block and a controller with error outputs. They are go no go type parts, working or broken, very rarely an in between.

In this case the relay appears to be working normally. No temp swings or over temps. It engages and disengages at the appropriate delay with the switch. The relays we use are chosen because of their failure in the off position rate. Solid state have a higher chance of failing in meltdown instead.

The Fuji controllers have not been discovered to have variable errors with the thermocouple. If the Fuji is going to have a problem it is the relay on the board (I have had a total of 3 on the books). I have gotten Fuji's back with the case completely melted around the board, but still running perfectly(not from our kilns, we do repair others as well), the face dropped off making it hard to read the display but otherwise totally functional. When a Fuji gives up it is usually the buttons that wear out or a power surge in a storm.

Our element supplier when discussing difficult cases refers to the element as the canary in a coal mine. He means that while it is the part that inevitably fails, it may be the symptom and not the problem. Metals exposed to heat oxidize and flow atoms of material that adheres to the elements causing them to be broken down faster. Salts, hydroxides, halogens and other external vapors can effect an elements life greatly. I'm no chemist, and I am slowly learning what these compounds are contained in. I also get skiddish when rare metal prices go nuts and check to be sure the element wire recipe is still testing the same.

One of my customers with a similar problem found that there was a problem with the whole house ground. It was not narrowed down until it had degraded to the point of getting shocked on the shower drain (they used the pipes for the ground strap).

Another found that they had a mouse fried on the wiring and had eaten enough of the wire to reduce the strands in the wire running the kiln causing it to not be getting enough power. Amazing the house did not have a fire.

A third ordered a 240v kiln being sure that the outlet the electrician had done what they had asked and provided it. It was a 110v wiring with 240v outlet.

It never hurts to have the power company come out and give a look at the system when problems are continuous with new parts. May not be the problem, but with it ruled out it is easier to find the really odd ones.

We use the same equipment we sell. We know our way around it from both the manufacturer and consumer points of view. We would not produce a product that we were not proud to use ourselves. The ragged edge is not on the map around here. We do see some pretty strange stuff though, so we check under all the rocks we can think of.

We will continue to work with Jan to find the solution to the problem long term.