Rheostat to control Quickfire Kiln?

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Denise S
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2004 9:44 am
Location: navarre, florida

Rheostat to control Quickfire Kiln?

Post by Denise S »

Hey all- I'm back for another questions since you're all so helpful.

I use a Quickfire kiln (ceramic test kiln) to fuse jewelry pieces. I'm wondering if anyone has tried using a rheostat to slow/hold temps on their Quikfires. I have a rheostat I use for my stained glass soldering iron. I was thinking about using it to control my heat in order to hold a temp at 960 for bead annealing. Currently, I just stand there, turning on and off as needed. That's okay for short firings, but if I forget to set my timer, it's all over but the crying.

The manufacturer of this kiln claims it can be used for bead annealing, porcelain painting, etc, but I believe to do that you need an expensive controller. If that's the case, I guess I just need to save for a bigger/better kiln. Just wondering.
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Richard Sinning
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2004 9:32 pm

Post by Richard Sinning »

Denise,

I recently purchased an infinite switch from EK Miller Co for $40 dollars. I have a cermanics kiln that is older than me and I'm old and it works great.

Richard
Richard
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Carol B
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2003 2:15 pm
Location: Olympia Washington

Re: Rheostat to control Quickfire Kiln?

Post by Carol B »

Denise S wrote: The manufacturer of this kiln claims it can be used for bead annealing, porcelain painting, etc, but I believe to do that you need an expensive controller. If that's the case, I guess I just need to save for a bigger/better kiln. Just wondering.
Years ago I bought an infinate switch specifically made for this kiln. It was $60. I just did a google search and it is still available at the same price. It works like a charm.

Carol
Carol B
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Judy Schnabel
Posts: 195
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 9:45 pm
Location: SW FL
Contact:
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Post by Judy Schnabel »

I bought a rheostat for my RapidFire. However, I don't believe you would be able to anneal with a rheostat. I set mine on "1" and let it climb for 90 minutes to reach 1550 for jewelry. Even on the lowest setting it will still climb. I don't anneal small items.

Judy
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Wallace Venable
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 8:34 pm
Location: Morgantown, WEST Virginia
Contact:
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Post by Wallace Venable »

I have described one way of dealing with this in

Large Rural Mailbox Annealer, or Annealer Temperature Management for Jacks
http://www2.cemr.wvu.edu/~venable/rmi/s ... ailbox.pdf

This is cheaper than an "infinite heat switch". By the way, true rheostats are seldom used as controllers now.

The temperature measurement discussion is in
http://www2.cemr.wvu.edu/~venable/rmi/s ... ermo-1.pdf
Wally Venable, Student of glass
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molly
Posts: 69
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2003 7:38 pm

Post by molly »

I too bought the $40 EK Miller infinite switch, for an older kiln that is used ALOT! I LOVE IT more than I can say. It is wonderful, and makes an older kiln with no controls quite useful again! I cannot say enough about it. It's great!
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Ron Coleman
Posts: 468
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:20 pm
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA

Post by Ron Coleman »

molly wrote:I too bought the $40 EK Miller infinite switch, for an older kiln that is used ALOT! I LOVE IT more than I can say. It is wonderful, and makes an older kiln with no controls quite useful again! I cannot say enough about it. It's great!
me too

Works like a charm.

Ron
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