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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

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  #1  
Old 2011-10-23, 8:55am
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Default What the hell happened????????

Opened the kiln this morning and all my beads where melted off the mandrels and flopped on the bottom of my kiln!!!!!! I could scream. Prepping for an open house. Been having problems with kiln starting, takes multiple times of trying for it to start. I hit the controller the other day and it magically turned on, so thinking there's a loose connection somewhere. I'm guessing it over fired last night. Some of my best beads ever were in there.

Any suggestions for how to fix this type kiln problem other than shopping for a new one??? Can't upload photos now, I'm on my iPad.

Did I mention I could scream???
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  #2  
Old 2011-10-23, 9:07am
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All my sympathy! What a horrible way to start the day (or week)! Call the controller's manufacturer to get advice. They should be able to help or at least point you in the direction of someone else who can. Obviously if you bought it from a store, they should also be contacted.
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  #3  
Old 2011-10-23, 9:42am
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It's very possible your pyrometer is bad. Have you checked to make sure it's still pushed all the way into the firing chamber? Also, when it wasn't working properly, were you getting any error messages?
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  #4  
Old 2011-10-23, 10:15am
shellybeads shellybeads is offline
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Its your relay switch you need to replace it if you have a jen ken they will mail you one but i always order two one for back up
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  #5  
Old 2011-10-23, 10:29am
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Was it clicking last night while you were using it?

It could be your relay, but not necessarily.
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  #6  
Old 2011-10-23, 10:35am
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I'm guessing something is bad with the relay, but I thought that would present itself as either on or off, not temp climbing to the point of melting evevrything into a full fuse. It was clicking on and off and maintained temp for my four hour session.
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  #7  
Old 2011-10-23, 10:48am
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If a relay is stuck in the on position, that's exactly what it does - climb to max temp.

If it was clicking off and on, it's not necessarily the relay, but it still could be. Did you get any error messages when it wasn't working right?
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  #8  
Old 2011-10-23, 11:22am
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I got PF 2 before it started. Took my about 10 tries to get it to start. The relay clicks then immediately goes off. Then it will finally decide to click and stay on.
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  #9  
Old 2011-10-23, 11:24am
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Oh, but I don't get PF2 every time I try and it fails to start. It's random.
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  #10  
Old 2011-10-23, 4:06pm
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I have a chili pepper and it started to have sporadic failures during the ramp down. I haven't had any problem since I replaced the relay. Knock on wood...
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  #11  
Old 2011-10-23, 8:39pm
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How disappointing. My relay went bad and my DH took it apart and fixed it. But he's a Mr. Fixit. I would have just replaced it. It's been about 8 mos and it's working fine. He said the contacts had worn down on one side so he, I don't know, made them contact some how. Good as new.
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  #12  
Old 2011-10-24, 4:01am
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What kind of kiln and controller?
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  #13  
Old 2011-10-24, 4:26am
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I have a Paragon SC-2 and about once a year the relay goes bad (but I use it every day and run a full cycle). It is nerve wracking as you never know when it is going. Sometimes, you can tell by the clicks (or lack thereof), sometimes you can't and your first indication that something is wrong is that the temp doesn't stop at your highest temp...it just keeps going until the alarm sounds. I worry that I won't be around or won't hear the alarm. The good news is that they are extremely easy to repair yourself. If this is what type of kiln you have, just contact paragon on their website. You can buy all of the parts from them (not cheap, but I've never been able to find any exactly the same) and there are very clear instructions for replacing just about everything but the firebrick on the site. I have replaced, relay's, condenser, thermocoupler, an element and the motherboard controller using the site - and it was not hard at all using the instructions provided. So if this 55 yr old bat can do it, anyone can, for sure, lol!!!
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  #14  
Old 2011-10-24, 8:36am
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Laughing at the 55 yr old bat comment! Too funny. I'm a 54 year old bat!!!

Its a JenKen tabletop with the bead door. I'm calling JenKen today. Will report back!

Thanks everyone for the help!
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  #15  
Old 2011-10-24, 9:05am
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Just talked to Jen Ken, very helpful! They are 99.9% sure its the relay, shipping one out today via priority mail. Can't complain at $15! Ordered a spare relay and a spare coil for future mishaps!

Thanks again everyone!
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  #16  
Old 2011-10-24, 9:56am
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Glad you got it resolved!! The Jen-Ken relays are waaaaay cheaper than the paragon ones! They are so easy to replace, just remember where you took off each wire and put them back on the same way - nothing to it!
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  #17  
Old 2011-10-24, 10:23am
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Thanks Joan! I'll have my handy hubby be my labor and I'll be the white hat on this job. He never minds helping with something that has the potential of burning down the house!
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  #18  
Old 2011-10-24, 5:13pm
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Now THAT is the perfect husband for a torcher!!! LOL! Glad you got it solved. I order 2 at a time, too. Then I am always prepared...for that problem.
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  #19  
Old 2011-10-24, 5:14pm
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Let him be the labor, but take a pic of the connections before anything is undone - sooo much easier to make sure it's put back together correctly.
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  #20  
Old 2011-10-24, 6:42pm
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Great advice, squid!
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  #21  
Old 2011-10-24, 6:58pm
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That's a great idea Squid. Thanks.

He's a keeper Melodie, thats for sure!
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  #22  
Old 2011-10-24, 7:34pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by j2canoe View Post
Glad you got it resolved!! The Jen-Ken relays are waaaaay cheaper than the paragon ones! They are so easy to replace, just remember where you took off each wire and put them back on the same way - nothing to it!
Yup, and thats also why they fail more often. This is not the place to skimp on part costs.
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