Power loss - strange thing with kiln

KellyG · Post by **KellyG** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 10:04 am

I was firing my kiln yesterday afternoon when we lost power (out about 2 hours). I have an Evenheat with a Rampmaster II controller. When the power came back on, I decided not to start the slump again, but wait until this morning. Well, this morning when I opened the kiln, my plate had already slumped (beautifully, I might add). The kiln was still warm at about 250 deg.

I can't tell you how surprised I was tho. I don't have any kiln faeries or if I do, there not usually helpful. I'm assuming that when the power came back, the kiln picked up on the schedule it was running when the power was lost. I don't know how else this could have happened. Anyone know if this is a typical characteristic of this controller.

...Kelly

Brad Walker · Post by **Brad Walker** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 10:09 am

You didn't say where in the firing your kiln was at when you lost power, but my guess is that you were at or close to your slumping temperature. When you lost power, the kiln held the heat long enough to finish the slump (if it wasn't done already), cool slowly through the annealing range, and then make it safely the rest of the way down.

I doubt very much that the controller started back where it left off, more likely that you fortunate that most if not all of the heating was over when you lost power. (On the other hand, this conjecture could be totally wrong, the kiln gods have been known to circumvent physics before.)

Tony Smith · Post by **Tony Smith** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 10:45 am

KAG wrote:I was firing my kiln yesterday afternoon when we lost power (out about 2 hours). I have an Evenheat with a Rampmaster II controller. When the power came back on, I decided not to start the slump again, but wait until this morning. Well, this morning when I opened the kiln, my plate had already slumped (beautifully, I might add). The kiln was still warm at about 250 deg.

I can't tell you how surprised I was tho. I don't have any kiln faeries or if I do, there not usually helpful. I'm assuming that when the power came back, the kiln picked up on the schedule it was running when the power was lost. I don't know how else this could have happened. Anyone know if this is a typical characteristic of this controller.

...Kelly

Kelly,

I had a RampMaster I turn itself on after a power interruption last week. I can't recall having it happen with my RampMaster II, but you might give Rob Bartlett a call at (319)372-8366 and ask him about it. Bartlett Instruments makes the RampMaster II as well as the controllers for a number of other kiln companies. If you contact him, please let us know what he says.

Tony

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 11:16 am

KAG wrote:I was firing my kiln yesterday afternoon when we lost power (out about 2 hours). I have an Evenheat with a Rampmaster II controller. When the power came back on, I decided not to start the slump again, but wait until this morning. Well, this morning when I opened the kiln, my plate had already slumped (beautifully, I might add). The kiln was still warm at about 250 deg.

I can't tell you how surprised I was tho. I don't have any kiln faeries or if I do, there not usually helpful. I'm assuming that when the power came back, the kiln picked up on the schedule it was running when the power was lost. I don't know how else this could have happened. Anyone know if this is a typical characteristic of this controller.

...Kelly

Kelly

My guess it this. The controller is set to continue after a power outage. When the power came back on it simply kept going with the program from where it stopped. You were lucky and it did not heat shock from this experience. Assuming that this happened on the way up, your glass slumped and annealed just fine. Maybe you can heat up faster then you thought without mishap?

You want this feature built in to your controller because most power outages are momentary. If you know about this and experience a 2 hour outage, you can see where in the firing you are and manually reset before the power comes back on, if that is the right thing to do.

KellyG · Post by **KellyG** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 11:19 am

I just had a nice phone conversation with Rob (thanks for the contact Tony). He said the Rampmaster II IS designed to pick up the schedule where it left off during the outage. This only happens if the temp. hasn't dropped too far. In other words, if the power was off for 10 hours, the controller is not designed to start up again. Also, if you have a power dip, it's possible that the kiln will flash ErrorP+temp. This means the kiln is still running your schedule, but tells you that there was a power problem during the firing. To clear the Error, just touch any key. If the Error flashes with no temp, the firing has stopped.

Tech. info on the rampmaster can be found on http://www.BartInst.com.

Well, you learn something new everyday huh.

...Kelly

Brad Walker · Post by **Brad Walker** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 11:24 am

KAG wrote: Well, you learn something new everyday huh.

Some days I even learn two new things.

Carol · Post by **Carol** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 11:34 am

I had a RampMaster I turn itself on after a power interruption last week. I can't recall having it happen with my RampMaster II, but you might give Rob Bartlett a call at (319)372-8366 and ask him about it. Bartlett Instruments makes the RampMaster II as well as the controllers for a number of other kiln companies. If you contact him, please let us know what he says.

Tony[/quote]

Tony...do you mean that the kiln wasn't programmed to do anything but just started itself after a power outage? Does anyone know if Skutt programmers can do this? If so, that's scary...we get a lot of power outages here in the winter.

Carol

Phil Hoppes · Post by **Phil Hoppes** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 11:52 am

The only thing I might be concerned about is the anneal on your piece. If the oven was still on and running it's program, then your piece is probably annealed correctly. If not, it may have been at slump temp when the power kicked off but just cooled with the kiln. If that is the case there might be some stress in the glass. If it is a piece for yourself you may wish to just leave it alone. If it is a piece for sale you may want to run it through the slump cycle again just to be sure it is annealed correctly. You also might want to go a little slower on the ramp up just in case there is stress in the glass you don't want the piece to break on the ramp up.

Phil

Tony Smith · Post by **Tony Smith** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 12:22 pm

Carol wrote: Tony...do you mean that the kiln wasn't programmed to do anything but just started itself after a power outage? Does anyone know if Skutt programmers can do this? If so, that's scary...we get a lot of power outages here in the winter.

Carol

In this case, the kiln was on it's way up in a program and someone tripped the circuit breaker while searching for another tripped breaker (we were running a class with multiple kilns running). When I realized the power was off, I reset the breaker and the kiln picked up where it left off without my having to do anything.

Earlier in the day, that same kiln came on full power when I started the firing. I noticed that the temperature was climbing too fast and that the relays weren't clicking. I unplugged the kiln for 15 seconds which reset the relays and it fired properly after that. It was a really weird kiln day.

As I mentioned the other day, this is one reason why I turn the power off to my controller when I'm not using it. Marty mentioned that the Skutt and Jen-Ken do not have power switches, so I would consider throwing the circuit breaker when your not firing.

Tony

Jo Holt · Post by **Jo Holt** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 7:05 pm

Tony Smith wrote:

Marty mentioned that the Skutt and Jen-Ken do not have power switches, so I would consider throwing the circuit breaker when your not firing.

Tony

My 3 Jen-Kens each have power switches; but throwing the circuit breaker can never be wrong. From his post I think Jen-Ken is working hard to be a reliable kiln manufacturer; they are a service-oriented company for sure.

Joanne Owsley · Post by **Joanne Owsley** » Sat Jun 14, 2003 3:02 pm

[quote="KAG"]I just had a nice phone conversation with Rob (thanks for the contact Tony)....To clear the Error, just touch any key....

...Kelly[/quote]

Help me, Kelly. I also have a Bartlett controller, and for the life of me, I can't find that darn "any key."...........

Seriously, I think the fact that my controller has a power switch is a very nice feature.

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Sat Jun 14, 2003 4:31 pm

Glassyeyed wrote:
KAG wrote:I just had a nice phone conversation with Rob (thanks for the contact Tony)....To clear the Error, just touch any key....

...Kelly
Help me, Kelly. I also have a Bartlett controller, and for the life of me, I can't find that darn "any key."...........
Seriously, I think the fact that my controller has a power switch is a very nice feature.

There is a community somewhere nearby where they had to discontinue the 911 service because people couldn't find the 11 button on the phone.

WarmGlass.com

Power loss - strange thing with kiln

Power loss - strange thing with kiln

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