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testing relays on an l & l

updated sat 27 mar 10

 

Dolita Dohrman on fri 26 mar 10


I have had my kiln now for 6 years and support from L & L has been
outstanding. I really want to thank the young man who answered the
phone when I called L & L on Tuesday. He was going to walk me
through testing my relays with a multi-meter but quickly realized he
was dealing with a real amateur. Then he told me about a test that
could be run on the L & L program that will check the relays for
you. Everyone who has an L & L should know about this because it
could save you a lot of headaches. It should be the first test you
run when the kiln stalls. Last time I replaced just about everything
before I discovered it was a relay and relays are the easiest thing
to replace!
Instructions are in the Troubleshooting section of the manual on p.
7/8 under 'Elements' and does not say a word about relays.

Press OTHER, 4,4,3
Keep pressing OTHER to cycle through menu options till you come to 'd
IAG', then press ENTER.
The control will display OUt1, then OUt2, then OUt3. Let it cycle
through. Each cycle will last one minute.
Listen for the click of the relay, followed by a low buzzing or hum
for the duration of the cycle.
If you don't hear a click or if there is no sound after the click,
then you have a relay problem.

This is a safe way to check the relays. You do not need to open the
kiln lid. I discovered one of my relays was bad as it was silent
after it clicked. L & L shipped one and it got here in two days.

I hope this is useful information for some of you.
Dolita in Kentucky - see you at NCECA!