Glass hives electrical issues ??? It's popping all over Facebook

[jr23]

Recently been seeing lots of chatter about these kilns made by a sub

Having a safety issues making them dangerous .

Of course it so happens that the green and pink space kiln is one of the first ones built out of house with these relay issues .

So of course he is back in the mix .

I'm just wondering what all the guys here with glass hives are doing about this issue .

Is it true or hearsay ?

40 -50 kilns floating around mostly in noob hands with relay issues , that's what's got me posting here .


If it's hearsay chop and drop this thread mods .


They have donate a lot to this forum . I'm just really curious if there is anything to the wiring issue chatter

[alelexi]

I got a glass hive About a year ago it's always been working great I've had no issues. What are people saying is wrong?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[snoopdog6502]

A couple problematic people may have had issues but anyone else rolls up their sleeves and fixes it pronto.

As far as Facebook some nutbag is stirring up drama from a couple years back. Making threats to Mike and Pam.

Not every customer is a joy to work for. Some are downright crazy.

[Kovacs Glass]

Someone I know locally has had 2 issues with their glass hive kiln in the past year that I've been in Eugene.

Anecdotal, I know.

[Jimi The Don]

Haven't heard of any issues that were out of the ordinary, other than the complete nonsense that nick
Cums up with. Every kiln manufacturer has issues, EVERY one. One of his fake accounts (proven fake account) said that
There's never wiring issues with a paragon, well, that's not true; fixed a handful of paragons over the years and I've replaced wiring before on a couple of occasions.
Issues arise, it's how we handle them that define us, and nick handled the original situation extremely poorly, and now is making up stories about other kilns burning up.
We all watched the saga unfold a few years ago, he was not the victim.
And until I hear anyone other than him, his fake accounts, or his 3-4 klingons who hangout in his secret group and fuel his rediculous antics, talk about THEIR kiln problems, with photo evidence, then I'm not buying the story.

[BurntHands]

Well I do remember the green and pink kiln on here and I remember that guy being rude and picky anyway. That was quite a while ago, relays fail sometimes?

I have a glass hive Fuji/relay with some time on it, relay's fine. The kiln itself blew an element almost right away and the design of the element groove in the cieling is terrible, they don't make them like that anymore and when I asked why I got an old prototype model that the elements sag out on the first few firings, they said I must make pipes and it was designed as a bead kiln! It's a 9" high kiln. 9"wide. One u-shaped element groove in the cieling. Not enough element groove or stretch to the elements, they bind hard enough to break the bricks. glasshive make them differently now. Gravity isn't going to affect the element differently if there's beads under it. If memory serves me correct they wanted $85 per element and they could replace the 3 grooved element bricks for almost $200? $350cdn+ with shipping, to build the same shitty design that drops elements. They wouldn't tell me what specs to use to wind an element, because they wanted to sell the marked-up one. Kept saying it wasn't designed for pipers and that it was a bead kiln, and that upset me so I was probably a little short after getting my warranty denied for pushing a bowl. 1080 and 960 aren't so different and the 9" tall kiln sure wasn't sold as bead-ladies-only. Got a replacement 1350w element locally for $35cdn so 1/3 of their price. it blew First day, not enough element groove to get a good stretch. Element guy said I'd have to remake the silly big-loop element it came with but its still really hard to fit the resistance wire in the channel at any gauge, why the element was so strange in the first place. Still sags and arcs out and blows, I probably replaced it about 5x in a few months but they don't cost much to wind my own out of Kanthal. With 3 new bricks ($20) and a pinned-up element I've got it as good or better than new, and it still sucks, it would be way better with twice as much element groove but I couldnt do that without rebuilding all the side bricks too, and at that point I might as well build from scratch. I still did the fix for like $40 they wanted to charge hundreds for. Good as new, which still isn't good. I guess I'm now in snoops group of people who rolled up their sleeves and fixed glasshives problems, but I totally had inherent problems with my glasshive, that I'm sour about. Loud mechanical relay is still kicking though, and it has lots of hours on it, I used this relay/Fuji to control another kiln while the glasshive was down too.

I had heard great things about their customer service, I talked to them a few times when I was kiln shopping and thy even mentioned they weren't CSA approved for Canadian house Insurance, I didn't care but I thought that was a very cool thing to bring up that most people wouldnt think about. I ended up finding a different glasshive model, on talkglass, already in Canada, from a guy whose glass dreams didn't pan out. Bought that instead, that was the mistake, it already sat for half the warranty and now I wasn't the original buyer. Telling me they'll help me out and give me the parts for a deal, and that their cost is hundreds of dollars? No, that's not good service to me. Kanthal'a cheap, bricks are cheap. Kilns are expensive, buying the design.

If you buy a glass hive, go with a proven model with elements in the walls. Mine is called "short guy tall" I think and it's a modified short guy bead kiln, I guess the "short guy" uses a roof element. If I was making mandrel beads and my element sagged down instantly and broke bricks id be even more pissed off, that's a serious safety/electrocution issue. Every time I said I bought a terrible design she went back to "it wasn't designed for pipers...", they eventually said they wouldn't make any more kilns like that and they've changed the element groove since, but they couldn't help me turn it into an actual functional decent kiln without crazy inflated prices. I hear they make pretty awesome wire melters and I've seen a nice big custom glasshive in Canada, but they lost a future customer in me. If you buy a glasshive, buy a proven model with wall elements.

[BORO]

I don't recall what kiln swim had. "tall guy" I think.

The day I got to swims in Mississippi, 40mph sustained winds put a tree on his house power line. 220 shorted to the entire house/garage shop.

It blew up everything. Fridge, all light ballast, a.c.'s , central air , his exhaust fan, fried power strips, dryer, all toasted


The kiln seemed "ok" he thought it was heating up slow? I had nothing to compare it to.
We used it a few days, then he called Pam just to check. Pam said it was a first (220sent to a 120 kiln)

His warrantee only had a week or two left so.....

Pam sent all the parts that may or may not have been effected. Even tho the kiln seemed fine. She only requested that when/if parts failed, she wanted them back to inspect the damage from 220. Free parts, free shipping too.

As far as I'm aware the kiln still works fine months later.

Also, I love the 4 piece doors with the top hinge. I like it better than my aim/ guillotine door. However I'm not normal.

[Mike_Aurelius]

Of all the electrical equipment glassworkers use, the kiln is the single most problematic of all. Every manufacturer has issues and some handle them better than others.

<Name Redacted> issued threats of violence and death at Pam and Mike, and they have referred everything over to the Sheriff and local police.

This goes well beyond the pale.

[Sparko]

Damn boro that sucks, that deffinitly makes me want to install a whole house surge protector asap. I keep putting it off.

[RasFarian]

I've had my Glass Hive kiln for over a year and had zero issues of any kind. Im stoked on it.

[Simian]

While people being vocal about your company in a negative way sucks...it is pretty clear that Spacely is a sociopath and took things way too far. Threatening the life of a person or threatening violence to someone is totally inappropriate. Something tells me he is gonna get a taste of his own medicine here shortly. Especially when he gets a nice knock on the door from Law Enforcement. Then the lawsuit for libel or defamation will be a hoot to watch.

[Swim]

yeah, they are legit, my kiln is really ugly, but its old. It is still kicking ass. And as well pam sent me out all the parts that were on warantee because my kiln was almost out of warantee. I would like to note that I have not had to use these parts..... I just have them for free. I honestly cant complain. 8.5 out of 10 over all in my opinion. ease of use with the fuji, heats quick, draws low amps for the space I have. My kiln makes me a lot of money. I could see myself buying from them in the future.

[Swim]

I have also learned more about how kilns work and running correct cycles lately because I have been working with people who do that all correctly as of late, and my kiln heats up plenty fast, it was all in my head. I would say spend your money with these guys because they do seem to stand behind their product. When I messaged pam, she called me within five minutes.

[itssteve]

I have an older regular guy with the U shaped element groove on top like burnt hands it talking about, but no customer service problems for me. First element started sagging after a month or so, I asked Pam about it and she sent me an element for whenever it failed and some pins to support it free of charge, lasted about 2 years before it stopped heating up, replaced it and the new one was sagging worse than the first one ever did within a few months and now about 10 months later it really struggles to heat up and hold. I'm not sure what the typical lifespan is for an element. Studio I'm in now has a big skutt I can use so I just kind of stopped using it since I don't really feel like getting another element when I need a bigger kiln anyway. Relay and wiring and everything is fine as far as I can tell (but I dont know shit about these things) The elements just sag and then fry up from uneven heating it seems. Customer service was good for me when I used it but I think the element groove was poorly designed. But if they are blowing up on people it'd be nice to know, I don't get on facebook much. Definitely going to go with something that has the elements in the side walls whenever I get around to getting something new. But it served me well up until this point.

[BurntHands]

damn Boro & Swim, that's an awesome story. I guess there's a reason they have a rep for great customer service! I never really had a problem with the service, they were professional. I just felt that parts were too overpriced, and the "piper" thing upset me, it doesn't matter what's annealed. The 9" tall kiln being "designed as a bead kiln" wasn't the problem, the element would sag and break bricks with beads under them too, and that's unsafe with metal mandrels.
I just really wish I got the glasshive I was shopping for instead of the 2nd-hand barely-used one I found on here. They were great when I was shopping, and I was going with them because they're active on here and have a great rep. I just got a lemon. I still blame the poorly designed element groove, not " I must have put pipes in it". If I got the brand-new kiln I was shopping for it wouldn't be an issue, I just bought a crappy prototype. Live and learn.

It's good to hear that Steve at least got a couple years out of his. Mine's seen maybe a year of use overall, a handful of elements ( although none were official glasshive elements, a 3rd party 1350w one and a few wound in house) It's had a good few months now but its sagging between all the pins. I have another element ready for when I feel like wasting an hour ripping it apart for the tenth time.

If I could make a "w" shaped element groove in the ceiling I think it would help. Next time my bricks break. I couldn't make an element that works in spec to dudleys element paper ( for wire diameter vs. coil diameter, and stretch.) There's just not enough groove. I have a the glasshive 9x9 and an old Skutt 9x9. The glasshive has the single U-shaped groove in a 9" brick, the Skutt has 3 U's per side, 6 U-shaped 9" element grooves in total. They do use a bigger gauge of kanthal so they need more of it, but the Skutt elements are in spec to what a usable kiln element should be. This skutt was the small annealing kiln for a scientific shop for over 20 years, zero maintenance. They're both around the same size and wattage. One has elements that are built properly in spec to the leading authority on kiln buildings' published guidelines, and the other one has 30 feet of thin cheap resistance wire stuffed in however it would fit. My local potters supply and the guy that winds elements for them both took one quick look at the broken element/groove and told me that I wasted a thousand dollars. Glasshive told me I worked it too hard, it had maybe seen 1080 ten times on my watch, but I bought it second hand newish and the element was already binding and sagging. I wish I had bought a brand new one with side elements, but all of the screwing around made me learn some stuff, and now I get paid to maintain all the annealers and pickup kilns in a big hotshop, for one of the pioneers of studio glass. I've wound lots of elements now. I guess having to thoroughly modify my shiny new kiln was a blessing in disguise in the long run. If they had've just told me how much wire to use to wind my own instead of trying to charge me $100+CDN for a replacement I wouldn't have had to do all that reading and trial & error. Thanks?

[Kevin Bumble]

I pretty sure that was just some s*** that's this beastly dude started with his like numerous accounts I seen it too but is no evidence to prove anything and as Mike says all counts have electrical issues.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

[BORO]

Brunt hands +1.

I actually may p.m. You to double check I'm buying the right replacements for my current element failure. (aim)


I can't rep you till I get out of the woods. (camping)

This phone won't rep, or post pics....

[glassfreek]

Recently been seeing lots of chatter about these kilns made by a sub

Having a safety issues making them dangerous .

Of course it so happens that the green and pink space kiln is one of the first ones built out of house with these relay issues .

So of course he is back in the mix .

I'm just wondering what all the guys here with glass hives are doing about this issue .

Is it true or hearsay ?

40 -50 kilns floating around mostly in noob hands with relay issues , that's what's got me posting here .


If it's hearsay chop and drop this thread mods .


They have donate a lot to this forum . I'm just really curious if there is anything to the wiring issue chatter


Recently been seeing lots of chatter about these kilns made by a sub

Having a safety issues making them dangerous .

Of course it so happens that the green and pink space kiln is one of the first ones built out of house with these relay issues .

So of course he is back in the mix .

I'm just wondering what all the guys here with glass hives are doing about this issue .

Is it true or hearsay ?

40 -50 kilns floating around mostly in noob hands with relay issues , that's what's got me posting here .


If it's hearsay chop and drop this thread mods .


They have donate a lot to this forum . I'm just really curious if there is anything to the wiring issue chatter

Well, the first point, Spacely's kiln, he never had an electrical issue with it. The thread is here on TMP to read through if you have a day or so. That started as a paint problem.

We have a lot of kilns out there, thousands. I don't have any data to say that there is a specific danger. There are cases where there have been parts failures for folks that tell me they are on proper electrical circuits. In my 7 years here at the Glass Hive I have seen some pretty strange things as power goes. Not all systems are created equally. You can have good circuits in your home, but still have issues between you and the pole.

Extension cords, surge protectors, breakers being changed without upgrading wiring that feeds them, long runs connecting shop to home breaker box and so on all come into play as well. I take the word of the customer for thier set ups. I don't have a choice. I can't tell who is telling me what they think I want to hear to avoid warranty issues. We do not void warranties because you broke a power rule. That seems unfair and does not provide education back to the customer. Our goal is to have that 3 year period be your chance to learn the ropes and be well on your feet by the time that warranty ends.

I did have a relay issue a year and maybe a half ago. Our relays for the larger Welded Steel builds just started failing in record time, like a week. I reached out to supplier, who reached out to the manufacturer. Having not gotten any info back from them that gave me confidence we fired them and moved to Square D relays in that size class. That affected about 4-6 builds. The customer that was most upset and had the misfortune of trying two of the bad relays while we figured out what was going on got his drop shipped by next day air.

In the realm of the weird, we had one kiln that was throwing elements every 6 months. We went over the kiln, and controller to no avail. Forward about 4 elements and the owner got in the shower one day and held the faucet while her toe touched the metal ring on the drain and got a light shock. The ground rod to the house had failed and it was tied to the house by the pipes. If that scenario had not happened to her, we could still be chasing kiln issues instead of ground and power pole issues. Turns out the ground was faulty on the pole too. Mind you, this is all warranty parts here. We stuck with her. Her kiln went into perfect performance once her house stopped trying to eat it.

With any report of an electrical issue, we investigate as far as we can. Being on the other end of a phone make that trying. I can't see the wiring, inspect ground states and do meter reading. In many cases customers aren't willing to send in the box for a proper go through, they can't afford the time down and do a fix on site from there end. I can't inspect anything in those cases. I do send rewire kits so they are not on thier own doing the fix. I always ask if I can have the box for us to go through ourselves. If someone has repeat problems we ask them to go through their own system but I can never be sure how far, or if they call in a pro. We are human, it is possible we make a mistake on say an element wind. We try to keep all those thoughts for front when trouble shooting. If we can't find an issue on the controller box we may send an lower amp element and see if that does the trick for the system it is plugged into.

Kilns are one of the hottest loading items you'll have in your building. They demand high amps, and will often be the first thing to show an issue. We are using the same components here in our studio, stretching more than 15 years old. The newest kiln in my shop is about a year or so old. I can be running up to 6 Fuji's at once in our combinations of studios. Furnace, color box, coffin annealer, fusing/pickup kiln, 6 pot color furnace, Short Guy and an aluminum guillotine in testing(similar to the reg tall in size). We run every relay, SCR and component on the weekends. In Mikes 15+ years of Fuji ownership, not one of the builds has a wiring failure on our system. We also tend to use Fuji's that have had intermittant error codes for a customer in our shop, and we have replaced it. Still haven't seen a code on this end either.

The best way to prevent failure in any kiln is to stay up on the maintenance and don't push parts totally to thier overheating limits. Be on the right power, inspect your breaker box and ground rod. Relay can be good for a few years but I like to see them replaced annually. For $20 it is an easy insurance policy to assure your relay does not ever fail, never creating a heat issue in the box. Elements are another matter and in most cases should be good for at least 10 years. Anyone making a living with a kiln should have a spare relay and element on hand before they are needed. Then your parts are never an emergency need and you are in control of your working time. If you are in warranty, you can order the spare parts, and we replace them free every time you install them. You are not hung up on shipping time and we have your spare on the way while you are making your on site repair.

Melting Pot is always a fair and informative place. We will continue to support its library and active forum. I learn so much here, and love that hard topics can be discussed with reason.

[glassfreek]

Well I do remember the green and pink kiln on here and I remember that guy being rude and picky anyway. That was quite a while ago, relays fail sometimes?

I have a glass hive Fuji/relay with some time on it, relay's fine. The kiln itself blew an element almost right away and the design of the element groove in the cieling is terrible, they don't make them like that anymore and when I asked why I got an old prototype model that the elements sag out on the first few firings, they said I must make pipes and it was designed as a bead kiln! It's a 9" high kiln. 9"wide. One u-shaped element groove in the cieling. Not enough element groove or stretch to the elements, they bind hard enough to break the bricks. glasshive make them differently now. Gravity isn't going to affect the element differently if there's beads under it. If memory serves me correct they wanted $85 per element and they could replace the 3 grooved element bricks for almost $200? $350cdn+ with shipping, to build the same shitty design that drops elements. They wouldn't tell me what specs to use to wind an element, because they wanted to sell the marked-up one. Kept saying it wasn't designed for pipers and that it was a bead kiln, and that upset me so I was probably a little short after getting my warranty denied for pushing a bowl. 1080 and 960 aren't so different and the 9" tall kiln sure wasn't sold as bead-ladies-only. Got a replacement 1350w element locally for $35cdn so 1/3 of their price. it blew First day, not enough element groove to get a good stretch. Element guy said I'd have to remake the silly big-loop element it came with but its still really hard to fit the resistance wire in the channel at any gauge, why the element was so strange in the first place. Still sags and arcs out and blows, I probably replaced it about 5x in a few months but they don't cost much to wind my own out of Kanthal. With 3 new bricks ($20) and a pinned-up element I've got it as good or better than new, and it still sucks, it would be way better with twice as much element groove but I couldnt do that without rebuilding all the side bricks too, and at that point I might as well build from scratch. I still did the fix for like $40 they wanted to charge hundreds for. Good as new, which still isn't good. I guess I'm now in snoops group of people who rolled up their sleeves and fixed glasshives problems, but I totally had inherent problems with my glasshive, that I'm sour about. Loud mechanical relay is still kicking though, and it has lots of hours on it, I used this relay/Fuji to control another kiln while the glasshive was down too.

I had heard great things about their customer service, I talked to them a few times when I was kiln shopping and thy even mentioned they weren't CSA approved for Canadian house Insurance, I didn't care but I thought that was a very cool thing to bring up that most people wouldnt think about. I ended up finding a different glasshive model, on talkglass, already in Canada, from a guy whose glass dreams didn't pan out. Bought that instead, that was the mistake, it already sat for half the warranty and now I wasn't the original buyer. Telling me they'll help me out and give me the parts for a deal, and that their cost is hundreds of dollars? No, that's not good service to me. Kanthal'a cheap, bricks are cheap. Kilns are expensive, buying the design.

If you buy a glass hive, go with a proven model with elements in the walls. Mine is called "short guy tall" I think and it's a modified short guy bead kiln, I guess the "short guy" uses a roof element. If I was making mandrel beads and my element sagged down instantly and broke bricks id be even more pissed off, that's a serious safety/electrocution issue. Every time I said I bought a terrible design she went back to "it wasn't designed for pipers...", they eventually said they wouldn't make any more kilns like that and they've changed the element groove since, but they couldn't help me turn it into an actual functional decent kiln without crazy inflated prices. I hear they make pretty awesome wire melters and I've seen a nice big custom glasshive in Canada, but they lost a future customer in me. If you buy a glasshive, buy a proven model with wall elements.

It is hard to look at customer files with screennames, so I can't do direct research on the kiln record itself. I am verysorry we did not meet all of your needs.

There must be some miscommunication going on, our reasons forroof vs wall, costs and warranty carry over. Maybe I did not explain it well on the phone. I certainly mean no offence to pipe makers. It is about techniques not lifestyle.

Currently all of our builds (that make sense to do so) havethe wall or roof options available.

What we mean when we say that a roof element is designed forbead makers is that the only reason we would put an element in the roof is toaccommodate metal mandrels. Bead makers were our main customer base, along withfurnace workers, until the boro market started picking them up. Theeffect cramming an element in a tight groove that is intended to hold itagainst gravity has on an element is not as healthy as wall placement. Itforces a lot of heat back on the element itself and can cause leaning orchanging shape of the element. When used as a bead kiln we see very little in the way of early element failure.

When you buy used you do not get the benefit of talking to meabout the style of work you do, and what would be the longest lasting set upfor you. Kilns back in the 2010-2011 era were being picked up by boroworkers and we started seeing the effects of that working style on the roofelement design. Once we saw what was going on, we made a change in how we selland the options available. We speak personally to every customer prior tostarting a build to insure they are getting the style build that works for theirglass work. The Short Guy Tall is a 10 amp kiln ideal for places whereyou can not have more power to do a larger unit. However having roofelements in a low powered kiln for prodo work is not going to be a heavy workhorse, especially with full day punti door use.

Bead work and pipe work have different demands onkilns. Bead makers do not do much in the way of prep and do not open andclose thier doors nearly as often or for as long a period of time. They do notneed punti door action all day long. The roof elements do not stand up toprodo style in and out of the kiln work that boro tends to demand. That is thedifference, not what is sitting under the element, but the working style of themedium. A low amp kiln doing lots of door opening will show wear fasterthan a kiln built for that set of techniques.

The only element kits that cost more than $70 are forfurnaces. That also includes the brick for kilns needed to replace allthe bricks in the roof housing the element, just in case there is a crackedbrick from shipping that will be hard to reinstall. Even if your kiln wasa wall element kiln with more than one element, the cost does not go up. Sure, you can make an element for $20 if you are not paying people by the hourto build them. If the coil is wound on the correct mandrel size using the samewire size, it installs like a factory fit.

I think where the higher numbers come in is for changing aroof kiln to a wall kiln. That is essentially a rebuild of the kiln. Wehave to take it all apart, replace half of the bricks, in some cases change theend case for the new exit for the element and test fire. That would be inthe hundreds, probably close to $200 including the $70 in element kit that goesinto that. It make the most sense to sell the bead kiln back to the bead market and start with a new warrantied kiln made for your techniques.

We don't want anyone to go into a purchase without knowingthat we are not CSA approved for Canada. That is a moral obligation allcompanies should make their customer aware of prior to taking any funds. It is the customer's right to choose risks.

Buying used kilns, you do not get the benefit of havingit built around your work. We do extend our 3 year warranties to used buyers ifyou have the name of the person you purchased it from so we can link you to thefile. I think we are the only company that honors warranties as theychange hands.

As a company we are always listening and evolving to keep upwith a dynamically changing industry. Who would have thought 10 years ago thatthe industry would be growing by such leaps and bounds and in such amazing newdirections. People can even admit to manufacturers that the make pipes now. I remember when that was taboo to say. From our humble bead and furnace beginnings sprouted pull out train kilns, bell kilns that lift to the ceiling, and a new format of building to any specification you may need. Who knows what the next 10 years holds! I hope you will join us for the next leg of our journey. We can't hope to be the best fit for every person, but we will continue to try.

[Mr. Larry]

fire customer service. Closed case in my book

[BurntHands]

What a well written response. It was over a year ago and my memory's a bit fuzzy on prices, and there's an exchange rate and more expensive shipping to deal with that might be part of it...$70 with roof bricks seems perfectly reasonable. $85 for the element was in my head but I thought a roof kit was ~$100 and a wall kit was ~$200 but we talked about how a few of the 6 wall bricks are trimmed and we'd have to communicate well with photos and measurements so as to get everything lined up without shipping the kiln back & forth. I do remember the suggestion of replacing the element and selling it back to the bead market. Glasshive was helpful I guess I was just trying to fix it as cheap as possible and upset at buying a light duty used kiln when I could've had a better model new and warrantied for not much more. Taking it to the potters supply to try a cheaper fix and seeing their reaction that it cost $1000cdn probably tainted my memory too.
It makes me feel better to know that there are other kilns with the roof element doing fine for a few years at a time, and that it's still a model offered. I thought I got an oddball prototype that just didn't work well. I have an element that draws about 14-15a in there now so it could stretch as much as possible(not much), lots of pins, still using it. It does work hard, it has the gap under the punty door so I keep a triangle piece of kiln furniture under half if it usually, and I block the gap with 2 of them when my piece is off blowtubes and ready to run thru the schedule. It would be an awesome little kiln with the element on the wall- way longer of a groove for the stretch and less wear/tear from gravity.
Even when my glasshive was down I ran the glasshive fuji/relay/thermocouple to the skutt kiln. I even hung the glasshive door on it, it was a good little rig for quite a while. I didn't see any of the current FB drama, I just wanted to chime in the say my relay was fine (has more time on it than the kiln) and that that guy was difficult anyway, but I had my own element problems on a glasshive. I was sick in bed all weekend, and grumpy. I get a little carried away and wordy behind a keyboard sometimes. I did want to warn others about the roof element and/or see if anyone else had problems, but its good to know that you guys talk to everyone about their style first, and only do the roof elements if someone might make mandrel beads. That's a pretty good explanation of how a 9" tall kiln could be considered a bead kiln, thanks for taking the time to explain.

[glassfreek]

BurntHands, you are most welcome. I very much appreciate your follow up.

The 14-15a element would be a tight fit in that roof. Normally a standard Short Guy is 8 amps, and The Short Deep or Short Tall are 12. The control box is designed to handle up to 15 amps in 120v.

If we can be of help from this distance, we are happy to be.

[glassfreek]

If you ever have a question here I don't see right away, you can email me a heads up or give a call anytime. Michael@theglasshive.com 541-961-6978 Those both come direct to me, Pam. I was directed to this one from a member here giving me a nod to come take a look. I try to pop in from time to time, but not as often as I used to. Open discussions are always welcome.

[glassfreek]

What a well written response. It was over a year ago and my memory's a bit fuzzy on prices, and there's an exchange rate and more expensive shipping to deal with that might be part of it...$70 with roof bricks seems perfectly reasonable. $85 for the element was in my head but I thought a roof kit was ~$100 and a wall kit was ~$200 but we talked about how a few of the 6 wall bricks are trimmed and we'd have to communicate well with photos and measurements so as to get everything lined up without shipping the kiln back & forth. I do remember the suggestion of replacing the element and selling it back to the bead market. Glasshive was helpful I guess I was just trying to fix it as cheap as possible and upset at buying a light duty used kiln when I could've had a better model new and warrantied for not much more. Taking it to the potters supply to try a cheaper fix and seeing their reaction that it cost $1000cdn probably tainted my memory too.
It makes me feel better to know that there are other kilns with the roof element doing fine for a few years at a time, and that it's still a model offered. I thought I got an oddball prototype that just didn't work well. I have an element that draws about 14-15a in there now so it could stretch as much as possible(not much), lots of pins, still using it. It does work hard, it has the gap under the punty door so I keep a triangle piece of kiln furniture under half if it usually, and I block the gap with 2 of them when my piece is off blowtubes and ready to run thru the schedule. It would be an awesome little kiln with the element on the wall- way longer of a groove for the stretch and less wear/tear from gravity.
Even when my glasshive was down I ran the glasshive fuji/relay/thermocouple to the skutt kiln. I even hung the glasshive door on it, it was a good little rig for quite a while. I didn't see any of the current FB drama, I just wanted to chime in the say my relay was fine (has more time on it than the kiln) and that that guy was difficult anyway, but I had my own element problems on a glasshive. I was sick in bed all weekend, and grumpy. I get a little carried away and wordy behind a keyboard sometimes. I did want to warn others about the roof element and/or see if anyone else had problems, but its good to know that you guys talk to everyone about their style first, and only do the roof elements if someone might make mandrel beads. That's a pretty good explanation of how a 9" tall kiln could be considered a bead kiln, thanks for taking the time to explain.

I also asked Mike for the exact specs on the Short Guy element, 17g wire, 3/8" mandrel, 14 1/2" long before stretch. Hope that helps in the next element if you plan to keep working with that one.

[PyroChixRock]

You guys really do have the best customer service in the industry, hands down. I have sent so many people your way, even people who are having problems with kilns not made by you, and you've still taken the time to help them.

Also I love my glass hive kiln. I use it every day! And I'm so very thankful to have it.

[Swim]

the fuji controller can take some hell, when we had this electrical event, thank god my lathe was not plugged in. The surge was so large that it seemed to bypass or lock shut several of my surge protectors. I would feel dumb posting this here, if BoRo had not actually been visiting me right after this happened because it all sounded so crazy. It caught the surge protector in my daughters room on fire completely. Back to the fuji controller...... that is what let me know something was wrong when the power line fell, because I was outside in my front yard on the phone with BoRo, telling him how to get here, and I could hear the fuji buzzing like an alarm clock because som much power was going through it. So know this..... surge protectors are not fool proof, they failed me like the fuck on this occasion, most of them worked, but three failed, and one of those three caught fire. My kiln still works, everything else had to be replaced, and the electric company got out of it by saying a squirrel ate the line, and they cant control squirrels. BoRo as my witness, this far fetched tale is true as I can remember...

[Sparko]

Whole house surge protectors are installed at the breaker box and sell for around 100 at home depot. They take up a spot in ur breaker but its so worth it. It breaks during a surge and the electric won't even make it out of the breaker box. Theyre rated by the surge size they can handle. Some are rated for direct lighting strikes. Super easy to install if you know your way around a breaker box.

[Swim]

I had to shut everything off at the breaker box, it did not make the breakers flip. Truly i could not figure out what as going on for a few minutes. Then ballasts started burning out in the house. This house is old and shitty and I signed a lease for a different place today. BoRo will chime in and tell you I am not bullshitting. I ill look into this type of surge protector, good looking out. I am on high alert for that shit now. The new place is not janky at all though, and we should be good to go, lol

[Sparko]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Eaton-Whole-House-Surge-Protector-CHSPT2ULTRA-1/204761136?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-VF-PLA-D27E-Electrical%7c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwP7zhKva1gIVxbbACh2lFgm2EAYYASAB EgI08vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CP6fyper2tYCFa-4swodsEwMSQ

No problem homie, heres an example of a moderately priced unit. But they can get super expensive or a little cheaper depending on what level of protection you want. If i had a lathe you know id get the fancy one.

[BORO]

It was bonkers. His house lights were so bright, they looked like tiny little suns. The bright lights were my tip off as to what was going on. Similar to a bad voltage regulator in a car.

The line on the street was under a fallen branch further down the road. The line to the house service was pulled from the top of the pole. It was only a few feet off the ground as it crossed the yard.

It was weird how the most expensive pug in style surge protectors suffered the most. Melting down like Chernobyl filling the house with smoke. Did it have a battery pack inside that over charged?

Perhaps it was some odd amount of voltage? Not a full 220? Impossible to say. The kiln was one of the only survivors. I think the washer made it through, It was off at the time.

[Mute]

91326

[Mr.P0rn]

Twice I've been commissioned by a shop i was working in to find a custom kiln for the owner, twice I've hit up Pam for advice. Twice Pam has provided excellent information, and customer service. In both cases, the shop owner ended up not buying the kilns (and making me feel like a dick), but i can say that Pam and Mike have always been nothing but kind and courteous to me. If I was going to get a kiln, it would be from them. I also think they handled the Spacely thing really well, given the level of insanity involved. In the last month or two, I have seen two people that I know personally have their paragon shit the bed on them, although I've never had a problem with the ones I've used.

A final note......a day or so before that thread on Facebook popped up, my shopmate warned me that he "saw spacely, Kevin, and a few other guys jacking each other off in one of spacelys groups, talking about fucking with Glasshive again", because he knew that TMP tried to mediate the spacely thing when it first happened. I just kind of told him Spacely was always crazy and that was nothing new....and then i see a few posts of people saying he is harassing Glass Hive again, and I also see the thread about their kilns melting down. I've never seen anyone specifically have that issue....and Kevin who kept saying he had friends that had problems, couldn't provide a single specific thing that any of his "friends" had complained about. Given all of that, I would say that this was just another targeted attack against Glasshive.