I bought a nifty new high tech kiln 4 years ago, and it is, ahem, tricky. Needs a lot of fixing. Yesterday I was horrified to see SPARKS AND FLAMES popping out of the computer control box. When you fire a kiln, as safe as they are, you stick around and watch them. I mean, they're just big toaster ovens, but you wouldn't put toast in there for 12 hours without watching it, right???
Anyway, I had this same problem about 6 months ago. I caught it early in the firing. The interior was only up to 400 degrees, and I cut the power and the sparking stopped. This morning, I unloaded, unplugged and took apart the kiln. You see that a white insulator was loose, and the element wire was in contact with the kiln's metal jacket. Luckily the element, the wires, the kiln and MY HOUSE are all OK. I replaced the insulator, and tightened all the insulators and wires, and then ran a test. Perfect.
10 comments:
Hoop's nickname for me is Cautious. So I'm not sure I could have one of those in my house... or near it for that matter. I'd pop five new white hairs every time it was turned on. :)
Well, it should always be safe, but any appliance or equipment has to be used carefully and watched.
Whew.........good save....
Well, that doesn't sound very good.....glad you were watchin' it!
Your insurance company loves you. I think.
Whew!! We're all glad for you, Gary.
Good catch, Gary!
Stories like this make me afraid to take the plunge on a computerized model. I have a rather old, simple, Paragon with a kiln sitter...suits my non-technical self! :)
Holy cow. Glad all is well!
Pretty darn scary!! Great that you caught it!
Thanks great post.
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