I just bought a large kiln, however I know 0 about programing, Marty at Centre DeVerre has been extremely helpful. Yet I can't continue to make
long distance cell calls, my family does need to eat.
I do have it programed like this:
Tack Fusing or Slumping (single layer slumping)
User 4
segment 1
ra 300
F 1250 soak
hld 10 min.
Now I also have it programed for :
Slumping 2 layers
Ramping Up
User 4
segment 1
ra 300
F 1250
hld 10 min
Cool Down
segment 2
ra 2 300
F 2 1275 soak
hld 15 min.
Questions:
Shoul I always use User 4?
When I'm trying to do the following:
User 4
segment 1
ra 300
F 500
hdl 10 min
This is where it goes crazy---it then displays ra 2 over & over until
I shut it down.
All I was trying to do was set it so I could dry my kiln floor wash and then
put my shelves in when dry.
I don't know now if I have this permanently in the controller or not
how can I delete it and do it correctly.
And can someone explain what it is that I'm programing specifically, I'm
totally confused. I don't understand this @#!! controller at all.
I know it is only OPERATOR ERROR= ME.
Would love any and all ADVICE using this RTC 1000.
Still confused and excited to start fusing.
Thanks
camaro
RTC 1000 controller confusion!
Moderators: Brad Walker, Tony Smith
-
Cliff Swanson
- Posts: 65
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 10:36 pm
- Location: Raleigh, NC
Camaro,
I use an RTC 1000 controller and find it very easy. Perhaps I can help straighten things out...
I'm a bit confused with your explanation of what you've done so far, so I'm just going to make this general. First off, whatever you have done is not permanently loaded into the controller. I think you'll see what I mean as we go.
When the controller is alternately flashing "idle" and the kiln temperature, that's when it's ready to take on instructions. You begin a programming sequence by touching the Enter/Start button (lower left corner). To enter a program sequence you would next touch the Ramp/Hold (#4) button. At that point the display will alternate "user" and a number. The number is the number of the program that was last used. You can proceed with that number or you can touch another number (1-6), then touch "enter", and from that point whatever you program will become the steps associated with that particular program number, and whatever had been stored there will be over-written by your new set of instructions. This is analagous to taping over a program on an audio or video tape that you had previously recorded on...the new stuff becomes "what's on there". See my point?
OK... so lets say you entered #1 at the "user" prompt. Now the RTC knows you're going to enter some steps into program #1, but it doesn't know how many segments will be in that program...So the next thing on the screen will be "Segs", and at this point you must enter a number from 1-8, corresponding to the number of ramp/temp/hold segments you will use in the program. In examples you gave, your program had 2 segments, so you would have to tell the RTC that the program you're about to enter has 2 segments (each consisting of it's own set of ramp/temp/hold data). The key here is to plan your firing program first, so you know how many segments will comprise the program you're about to enter before you enter it.
OK, so lets say you want to enter a program that has 4 segments, so you touch "4" at the "Segs" prompt. Now the RTC knows your program has 4 segments and it will start prompting you for a ramp, temperature, and hold for each one. rA1 is the prompt for the first ramp. Let's say in your program thats 400 dph, so you touch 4-0-0 and then "enter". Next prompt will be F1 for the temp, so you enter the desired ending temp for that ramp, and then touch enter. The RTC then prompts Hld1, and you enter the time duration of the first hold. The RTC then goes through the same set of prompts for ramp, temp, and hold for each segment of your 4-segment program (or how ever many segments you told it will make up your program). For the second segment the prompts would be rA2, F2, Hld2; then rA3, F3, Hld3; then rA4, F4, and Hld4. If you make a mistake while entering you can touch the "stop" button and the RTC will back up one step so you can just re-enter the correct numbers, touch enter, and move forward.
From the example above, your RTC now has a 4-segment program stored in user #1. If you want to re-program user #1 to something else, you just do all the same things, and whatever you enter will over-write what is there and user #1 will have new program values. I find it helpful to write out the ramp/temp/hold information for all the segments in a program in my firing log before I start pushing buttons on the RTC. That way I know how many segments I'm going to be programing and all the information before I start.
I hope this helps.
Cliff Swanson
I use an RTC 1000 controller and find it very easy. Perhaps I can help straighten things out...
I'm a bit confused with your explanation of what you've done so far, so I'm just going to make this general. First off, whatever you have done is not permanently loaded into the controller. I think you'll see what I mean as we go.
When the controller is alternately flashing "idle" and the kiln temperature, that's when it's ready to take on instructions. You begin a programming sequence by touching the Enter/Start button (lower left corner). To enter a program sequence you would next touch the Ramp/Hold (#4) button. At that point the display will alternate "user" and a number. The number is the number of the program that was last used. You can proceed with that number or you can touch another number (1-6), then touch "enter", and from that point whatever you program will become the steps associated with that particular program number, and whatever had been stored there will be over-written by your new set of instructions. This is analagous to taping over a program on an audio or video tape that you had previously recorded on...the new stuff becomes "what's on there". See my point?
OK... so lets say you entered #1 at the "user" prompt. Now the RTC knows you're going to enter some steps into program #1, but it doesn't know how many segments will be in that program...So the next thing on the screen will be "Segs", and at this point you must enter a number from 1-8, corresponding to the number of ramp/temp/hold segments you will use in the program. In examples you gave, your program had 2 segments, so you would have to tell the RTC that the program you're about to enter has 2 segments (each consisting of it's own set of ramp/temp/hold data). The key here is to plan your firing program first, so you know how many segments will comprise the program you're about to enter before you enter it.
OK, so lets say you want to enter a program that has 4 segments, so you touch "4" at the "Segs" prompt. Now the RTC knows your program has 4 segments and it will start prompting you for a ramp, temperature, and hold for each one. rA1 is the prompt for the first ramp. Let's say in your program thats 400 dph, so you touch 4-0-0 and then "enter". Next prompt will be F1 for the temp, so you enter the desired ending temp for that ramp, and then touch enter. The RTC then prompts Hld1, and you enter the time duration of the first hold. The RTC then goes through the same set of prompts for ramp, temp, and hold for each segment of your 4-segment program (or how ever many segments you told it will make up your program). For the second segment the prompts would be rA2, F2, Hld2; then rA3, F3, Hld3; then rA4, F4, and Hld4. If you make a mistake while entering you can touch the "stop" button and the RTC will back up one step so you can just re-enter the correct numbers, touch enter, and move forward.
From the example above, your RTC now has a 4-segment program stored in user #1. If you want to re-program user #1 to something else, you just do all the same things, and whatever you enter will over-write what is there and user #1 will have new program values. I find it helpful to write out the ramp/temp/hold information for all the segments in a program in my firing log before I start pushing buttons on the RTC. That way I know how many segments I'm going to be programing and all the information before I start.
I hope this helps.
Cliff Swanson