*911*HELP, kiln wont heat up

[turtleglass]

SHIT BALLS!!!!! MY kiln wont get warm stopped at one eighty and wont heat up now. Tried turning off and back on with no success. the program is still in it and still set to run it. SOMEONE HELP ME!!!!!!!!

[Mecha]

Have you tried taking the control box apart and checking the connections? If they are all fine, it may be a blown relay.

[turtleglass]

thats def what a couple people told me as well on facebook . FUCK :bummed::tantrum::depressed:bangHead::crying::oh: :notamused: :ohcrap::sick::sigh::mad1:

[turtleglass]

let it sit unplugged for a while and now its working again hopefully it gets up to temp ok :) :party::yay:yay2

[turtleglass]

went up 5 degrees and not getting hotter what the hell...........:(

[Bruce Dille]

Thats what should of done it,Just re-boot and like new again(hopefully)

[turtleglass]

It wont get hotter again went up 5 degrees and then stopped :(

[Mr. Wonka]

Definitely sounds like a bad relay. Do yourself a favor and order 2 of them... t's always good to have a spare in cases like this.

Tom

[RedToroBoro]

turtleglass, I'm not sure where you are in your travels. If there is not a glass shop around that has one, a good ceramics store should carry spares for their kilns. Easy to change out.

What type of kiln do you have?

good luck, I'm sure it sucks

[Black Fire]

x3 on the relay. BTW, don't limit yourself to getting the part from the kiln manufacturer; that'll be the slow way. If you pull it out and check the part numbers you should be able to find one at an electronic place, or an appliance part supply house. FWIW.

[turtleglass]

Its a glass hive kiln wit a fuji controller, Kiln manufacturer says they think its the element and would ship it on wed, great people over there they called me as soon as they got home from a long trip out of town gotta love that. Im goin to try relay though if we can find one in town for cheap just to check :( super bummed, thanks for the advice yall :) :turtle:

[NorthWoods Glass]

If it's your elements, just look at 'em - are they blackened in the corners where they might've actidentally touched? If they look fine, it's your relay. Search online for a schematic of your kiln {or ask the company that makes 'em if they have an on-line schematic}, open the box and get the part number {or, once again, just ask the company}. And then search on-line, mine went out a while back and a friend of mine had had the same problem, found the replacement part for like $13 bucks. Take the wires off and put on the new one. (leave it hooked up till you get the replacement so you're sure of connecting the wires correctly). It's easy, but sure freaks you out the first time. I've got a spare sitting around now just in case it happens again.
Then a good question is why? Are you a ways from your breaker box? I was running my kiln thru an extension cord and that's what screwed me. Live & learn...

[Mr. Wonka]

Turtle: open up the back of the kiln and make sure that the element(s) did not corrode or break from the screws. If the whole thing is in tact w/ no breaks then it's not the element. I don't want to steer you down the wrong path, but I have some kilns hat are 12+ years old which have blown several relays... never an element.

just sayin...

Tom

[somewhere]

99 percent of the time if it's element failure it will be at the connections. Easy fix. Open up the back of the kiln check element connections. Not it? Take a volt meter set it to ohms. Check where the elements come out and see if you have continuity.

Another thought can you hear your relay cycle on? Check power out of the relay as the kiln cycles. I hardly ever see electrical relays die in the off position.

My bet is on a broken or loose connection.

Unless your kiln has over heated it's very doubtful a element is to blame. Very surprised kiln co would suggest broken element. does not sound like a qualified tec.

[newmexicomagma]

i bet its your relay.

[turtleglass]

we checked coil wit volt meter and it was the coil :( but new one will be here fri, gotta love that customer service :turtle:

[Black Fire]

Ah, the coil. Was it shorted?

[turtleglass]

I guess so? I dont see any breaks in the element and dont see any damage anywhere on connections to coil. The volt meter was not showing a complete circuit. I duno what caused it to fail.

[LTD]

Glass hive know their stuff. As was stated before, relays rarely blow in the off position, unless it is a mercury relay. Good luck getting her back up and running!

[turtleglass]

Element in Kiln Replaced, big props to glasshive for the quick delivery of new bricks and element, it was an interesting chore but I got it done. Also figured out that it cost about three dollars in electricity for me to fill oxy tank :) and around 3 bucks to run kiln for 11 hours, not to shaby :)

[somewhere]

So where did the element fail? If it's somewhere in te middle of the coil it could be a hot spot and could fail again. Just wondering why.