Tena Payne on wed 20 feb 02
The elements burnt out on the bottom of my Skutt
pk1231. As you know this is a huge top-loader that you
have to stand on your head to load. Anyway, being
electronic, rather than replace the elements myself, I
brought an electrician in to help.
The element was broken as it goes into the wall to
exit at the connector.
Here's the amazing part. The electrician took a new
element (a smaller one for a smaller kiln) cut off
about 4 inches of wound wire and left the pigtail
attached. He pushed the wound wire inside the broken
element telescopically. (The smaller totally inside
the larger.)
Now the magic. He took borax and made a paste and
packed it inside both elements by squeezing it in his
fist. Then connected the pigtail normally. Turned it
on, fired beautifully to 2000 degrees in about 30
minutes. No problem at all. I have since fired it to
cone 6 with a soak and it's totally back to normal
firing time.
The borax (a flux) fused the elements together. Now I
don't know how long this fix will last, but it sure
saved me from spending a day replacing elements _that
day_. I know it won't last forever, but hey, it works
now.
Thot you all would like to have this trick in a pinch.
By the way... the elements are changed the same way,
computerized or not.
Tena in Birmingham anxiously awaiting the Alabama Clay
Conference and nceca.
__________________________________________________
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Tommy Humphries on wed 20 feb 02
Let us know how well the walls of your kiln hold up after the borax eats its
way through the brick. Borax is one of the most active fluxes out there...I
have seen a lump 2 cm. diameter eat through almost 10cm. of soft firebrick
after only 3 ^6 firings.
You'r electrician might have caused more trouble than you know.
Tommy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tena Payne"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2002 12:14 PM
Subject: here's how to repair a broken element
>
> Now the magic. He took borax and made a paste and
> packed it inside both elements by squeezing it in his
> fist. Then connected the pigtail normally. Turned it
> on, fired beautifully to 2000 degrees in about 30
> minutes. No problem at all. I have since fired it to
> cone 6 with a soak and it's totally back to normal
> firing time.
>
>
> Thot you all would like to have this trick in a pinch.
> By the way... the elements are changed the same way,
> computerized or not.
>
> Tena in Birmingham anxiously awaiting the Alabama Clay
> Conference and nceca.
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
> http://sports.yahoo.com
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Roger Korn on thu 21 feb 02
I've had success by gas welding a short piece of mild steel rod to the element ends
at the break - no flux involved. I doubt that this is a long term fix, but it'll
work until the wire to wind a new element gets here (we're served by 2nd Month
Oxcart here in the Verde Valley).
We'll see - I'll leave the fix in place until it fails, knowing I've got the
replacement element on the shelf. The customer is only 15 minutes away.
Roger
Tena Payne wrote:
> The elements burnt out on the bottom of my Skutt
> pk1231. As you know this is a huge top-loader that you
> have to stand on your head to load. Anyway, being
> electronic, rather than replace the elements myself, I
> brought an electrician in to help.
>
> The element was broken as it goes into the wall to
> exit at the connector.
>
> Here's the amazing part. The electrician took a new
> element (a smaller one for a smaller kiln) cut off
> about 4 inches of wound wire and left the pigtail
> attached. He pushed the wound wire inside the broken
> element telescopically. (The smaller totally inside
> the larger.)
>
> Now the magic. He took borax and made a paste and
> packed it inside both elements by squeezing it in his
> fist. Then connected the pigtail normally. Turned it
> on, fired beautifully to 2000 degrees in about 30
> minutes. No problem at all. I have since fired it to
> cone 6 with a soak and it's totally back to normal
> firing time.
>
> The borax (a flux) fused the elements together. Now I
> don't know how long this fix will last, but it sure
> saved me from spending a day replacing elements _that
> day_. I know it won't last forever, but hey, it works
> now.
>
> Thot you all would like to have this trick in a pinch.
> By the way... the elements are changed the same way,
> computerized or not.
>
> Tena in Birmingham anxiously awaiting the Alabama Clay
> Conference and nceca.
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
> http://sports.yahoo.com
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
--
Roger Korn
McKay Creek Ceramics
In AZ: PO Box 463
4215 Culpepper Ranch Rd
Rimrock, AZ 86335
928-567-5699 <-
In OR: PO Box 436
31330 NW Pacific Ave.
North Plains, OR 97133
503-647-5464
Tena Payne on thu 21 feb 02
oh great!! just what I need! Is there anything I can
coat the brick with to prevent that happening? Kaolin
maybe? Kiln wash? I looked at it after the fire and
it seems to be localized on the elements. Didn't
notice much on the brick, but then I wasn't looking.
Every silver lining seems to have a cloud or two...
--- Tommy Humphries wrote:
> Let us know how well the walls of your kiln hold up
> after the borax eats its
> way through the brick. Borax is one of the most
> active fluxes out there...I
> have seen a lump 2 cm. diameter eat through almost
> 10cm. of soft firebrick
> after only 3 ^6 firings.
>
> You'r electrician might have caused more trouble
> than you know.
>
> Tommy
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tena Payne"
> To:
> Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2002 12:14 PM
> Subject: here's how to repair a broken element
>
>
> >
> > Now the magic. He took borax and made a paste and
> > packed it inside both elements by squeezing it in
> his
> > fist. Then connected the pigtail normally. Turned
> it
> > on, fired beautifully to 2000 degrees in about 30
> > minutes. No problem at all. I have since fired it
> to
> > cone 6 with a soak and it's totally back to normal
> > firing time.
> >
> >
> > Thot you all would like to have this trick in a
> pinch.
> > By the way... the elements are changed the same
> way,
> > computerized or not.
> >
> > Tena in Birmingham anxiously awaiting the Alabama
> Clay
> > Conference and nceca.
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
> > http://sports.yahoo.com
> >
> >
>
____________________________________________________________________________
> __
> > Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
> >
> > You may look at the archives for the list or
> change your subscription
> > settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
> >
> > Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be
> reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
> >
>
>
______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change
> your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be
> reached at melpots@pclink.com.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
http://sports.yahoo.com
Tommy Humphries on thu 21 feb 02
If you were lucky and didn't get any on the bricks, then count your
blessings. that runaway borax hole in the bed of our kiln we finally
stopped with some straight ultrox, just dumped a couple of teaspoons in the
hole. Any good kiln wash should do the trick too.
Just keep a watch on it to see if it does begin to erode a hole...you should
be able to stop it before it gets too deep.
Tommy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tena Payne"
To:
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2002 9:58 AM
Subject: Re: here's how to repair a broken element
> oh great!! just what I need! Is there anything I can
> coat the brick with to prevent that happening? Kaolin
> maybe? Kiln wash? I looked at it after the fire and
> it seems to be localized on the elements. Didn't
> notice much on the brick, but then I wasn't looking.
>
> Every silver lining seems to have a cloud or two...
>
>
> --- Tommy Humphries wrote:
> > Let us know how well the walls of your kiln hold up
> > after the borax eats its
> > way through the brick. Borax is one of the most
> > active fluxes out there...I
> > have seen a lump 2 cm. diameter eat through almost
> > 10cm. of soft firebrick
> > after only 3 ^6 firings.
> >
> > You'r electrician might have caused more trouble
> > than you know.
> >
> > Tommy
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Tena Payne"
> > To:
> > Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2002 12:14 PM
> > Subject: here's how to repair a broken element
> >
> >
> > >
> > > Now the magic. He took borax and made a paste and
> > > packed it inside both elements by squeezing it in
> > his
> > > fist. Then connected the pigtail normally. Turned
> > it
> > > on, fired beautifully to 2000 degrees in about 30
> > > minutes. No problem at all. I have since fired it
> > to
> > > cone 6 with a soak and it's totally back to normal
> > > firing time.
> > >
> > >
> > > Thot you all would like to have this trick in a
> > pinch.
> > > By the way... the elements are changed the same
> > way,
> > > computerized or not.
> > >
> > > Tena in Birmingham anxiously awaiting the Alabama
> > Clay
> > > Conference and nceca.
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________
> > > Do You Yahoo!?
> > > Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
> > > http://sports.yahoo.com
> > >
> > >
> >
>
____________________________________________________________________________
> > __
> > > Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
> > >
> > > You may look at the archives for the list or
> > change your subscription
> > > settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
> > >
> > > Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be
> > reached at
> > melpots@pclink.com.
> > >
> >
> >
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> > Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
> >
> > You may look at the archives for the list or change
> > your subscription
> > settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
> >
> > Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be
> > reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
> http://sports.yahoo.com
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
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