James Bowen on sat 10 nov 01
If your looking for a good price on a digital pyrometer try
searching the online auctions for digital thermometers. For
example a search for Fluke thermometer turned up several
model 51 and model 52. These usually go for $200-$275 from
suppliers, but only bring $30 to $100 on ebay. The 51 will
handle one type k thermocouple and the 52 will handle two
thermocouples.
James Bowen
Boyero CO
jbowen43@yahoo.com
jbowen43@plains.net
John Baymore on sat 2 aug 03
I was looking at pyrometers and noticed that the digital version was
double the price of the non digital variety. Any opinion as to whether i=
t
is
worth the extra $$$$ for the digital?
As a generality...... yup....get the digital.
The inexpensive analog pyrometers that you typically find being sold to
potters have pretty inaccurate meter movements. Most are something like
accurate to only 2 percent of full scale. With full scale typically bein=
g
2400 F......... at thier best thay are plus or minus about 50 degrees F. =
=
There are some far better analoge meters available....... but they cost a=
lot more. And for the same money or less....you can get qa digital that =
is
more accurate.
Plus the inherent lack of fast response from an analog meter =
movement slows down the the quicknes with which you can typically "see" t=
he
impact of some change you are making. Digitals are almost instant in
response...... being more dependent on the thermocouple's response
time..... (thinner is faster..... but wears out faster).
The one place I have found that a digital can be a bit of a problem howev=
er
is in teaching certain people how to wood fire. For most people it is a
god send. You can REALLY learn how the stoking (or lack thereof) can
impact the chamber(s). But some individuals get so hung up on looking at=
the darn digital changing all the time..... that they forget to associate=
the meter readings with their eyes, ears, skin, and nose ...... and lose
touch with the totallity of the firing . The digital actually distrac=
ts
them from real learning. For these folks...... an analog with it's slow
responmse time is better..... they don't get sort of hypnotized . =
Anyway....... good accurate digital are pretty cheap these days. If havi=
ng
a digital saves you at most only a couple of pieces in a single year.....=
..
it paid for itself.
best,
.....................john
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086-5812 USA
JBaymore@compuserve.com
http://www.JohnBaymore.com
603-654-2752 (studio)
800-900-1110 (studio)
"Earth, Water, and Fire Noborigama Woodfiring Workshop: August 15-24,
2003"
Llewellyn Kouba on tue 10 aug 04
I just fired my gas kiln this week and can't wait to see the new wares. In
the meantime my pyrometer gauge (upper kiln) blew out and I need to replace
it. I am pondering on how people like the electronically controlled digital
types? Any drawbacks etc. They are a bit pricey but maybe is the time for a
first switch over on my Gas kiln. Any helps would be appreciated.
Llewellyn Kouba
Abbey Pottery
Brant Palley NMCLAY.com on wed 11 aug 04
Digital pyrometers are much more accurate, the thermocouple is the same.
BUT you need 110v to make it work.
Brant Palley
www.nmclay.com
Steve Dalton on thu 12 aug 04
On Tuesday, August 10, 2004, at 07:04 PM, Llewellyn Kouba wrote:
> I just fired my gas kiln this week and can't wait to see the new
> wares. In
> the meantime my pyrometer gauge (upper kiln) blew out and I need to
> replace
> it. I am pondering on how people like the electronically controlled
> digital
> types? Any drawbacks etc. They are a bit pricey but maybe is the time
> for a
> first switch over on my Gas kiln. Any helps would be appreciated.
>
> Llewellyn Kouba
> Abbey Pottery
I would highly recommend an Oxy Probe. A little bit more money,
but worth their weight in gold! I swear by mine!!! A nice Aussie
model!
Steve Dalton
Clear Creek Pottery
Snohomish, Wa
clearcreekpottery.com
gary navarre on tue 10 nov 09
Hay Gang,
Those old analog pyrometers of mine need something... the thermocouples wi=
th no protective ceramic covering have a couple ceramic flex joint spacers =
missing and the needle adjustment screw on one turns all the way round and =
sort of finds room temperature. I cleaned the contacts and I am getting a r=
ise and fall reading but they're far from accurate. So I can decide what I =
need could someone explain the difference between an S Type and a Type K th=
ermocouple?
Also, I've thought of recording the heat rise and fall in my wood kiln kin=
da like those old machine maintenance circle graphs but wished there was a =
way to hook it up to a computer and look what they have... a computer inter=
face system. So, I have an old computer I don't use on line anymore with Wi=
ndows 98 and enough space... would the idea be to save any data I want to k=
eep to an external hard drive and reformat it to clean it up before install=
ing this software. Then I could build a safe spot by the kiln to accommodat=
e the computer for recording the week or so of firing. There would be no ne=
ed to use the electric kiln controller stuff but it would be there if I eve=
r got a small test kiln. I'm thinking I could also hook up the JVC and vide=
o stoking activities for 10 hours at a time and have a time stamp that will=
match the electronic graph. Is that what this system will do or is there s=
omething simpler... like a pad of paper, take notes by hand, and
state the data for the camera? I'll probably do that too but the thing is =
I plan to leave the kiln firing itself unattended for quite a while in the =
beginning and middle of the fire so it would be a cool way to get kiln data=
.
Gary Navarre
Navarre Pottery
Navarre Enterprises
Norway, Michigan, USA
http://www.youtube.com/GindaUP
http://public.fotki.com/GindaUP/
--- On Sun, 11/8/09, Scott Harrison wrote:
> From: Scott Harrison
> Subject: [Clayart] Digital Pyrometers
> To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Date: Sunday, November 8, 2009, 9:34 PM
> Thank you for all your responses. I
> saw several Fluke 52's on Ebay but
> also found that Skutt has a new model out for $110.00 that
> will work
> pretty well for my purposes and my school budget. http://www.skutt.com/pr=
oducts/accs.html
>
> Scott Harrison
> South Fork High School
> Humboldt Redwoods CA
>
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