Vince Pitelka on thu 6 jan 11
I just sent a message apologizing to Rob Haugen and Olympic Kilns for
spreading false information about the burners on their Torchbearer kilns. =
I
went on second-hand information, and I should have checked more thoroughly.
It is evident that the burners on the Torchbearers are very different from
those on the Summit conversion kits. Please see Rob's message below. I
wanted to send the same message under this subject heading just to make sur=
e
people get the message.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Rob Haugen
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2011 8:23 AM
To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: FW: burners for electric kiln conversion
Vince,
You may want to take a look at one of our current burner systems a little
more carefully. I can assure you that our burners are not a conglomeration
of "off the shelf" parts. We use a GACO AM100 air mixer that most
definitely do have a shutter plate for primary air adjustment. In fact the
shutter plate, brass spud and orifice are the same for the AM100 and the
MR750. We have done extensive testing with our current burner and the MR75=
0
and find very little difference in performance between the two burners. We
have been building gas kilns for over 40 years and have probably built more
gas kilns than anyone out there. We are very aware of the gas kiln firing
process and we strive to build a simple kiln, that can be easily set up and
fired by anybody with the desire to fire a gas kiln. If someone wants the
MR750's on one of our kilns, we can do it, but I do not feel that it is a
necessity. If someone wants to buy just the burner system and do the
conversion, we will do that as well.
Rob Haugen
Olympic Kilns
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Vince Pitelka
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 6:03 PM
To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: FW: burners for electric kiln conversion
Cathi Newlin wrote:
"I'm wondering what the issues are with the Summit burners?"
Hi Cathi -
I think this was mentioned in some previous posts, but both Summit and
Olympic seem to use cheaply made tube burners composed of off-the-shelf
black iron pipe component parts. In other words, they are not "designed"
burners, but rather a conglomeration of pipe fittings that happen to
function as burners. And as Bill Schran pointed out, there is no primary
air adjustment. According to Marc Ward's comment, some users are so
dissatisfied with these burners that they have enlisted Marc's help in
converting over to the MR-750 venturi burners. The MR-750 and the larger
MR-100 are nice little cast iron venturi burners with an efficient
adjustable primary air shutter. And as Marc Says, he sells kits that will
provide you with the burners, valves, pilots, etc., and you would have to
either build your own frame, or adapt the original electric kiln frame.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka
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