I've been having trouble with a medium size L&L. In the last six months I've had two elements burn out, one thermocouple give up and had to replace the controller; the kiln is ELEVEN months old.
Is this their standard performance? In all fairness, they've been quick to send replacement parts everytime it failed, but usually the way I know it's failed is when something gets trashed.
Don't think this is a good product recommendation, but their customer service is great.
Jerry
L&L kilns; anybody us 'em
Moderators: Brad Walker, Tony Smith
My first kiln was an L&L ceramic kiln, which I received used about 12 years ago. It took a lot of abuse -- being moved around, exposure to floods, etc. It never let me down. Maybe because it was a ceramic kiln it was made to endure higher temps than a glass kiln -- it had no top element, was tall and narrow, and could sizzle at 2100 degrees. I recently traded it to make room for a more practical kiln. But at 21 years old (judging from the serial number), that kiln was still working just fine. Of course, companies change and things might be different over at the L&L factory these days. But it sounds to me like you got a lemon.
Jerry:
Tell us more information. The two elements that burned out, where?, in the middle or at the ends where the connectors are at?
Are you just doing Glass or are you doing other things in the kiln? Carbon burnouts? Wax casting? What temperature? Some atmospheres are detrimental to elements. Thermocouple failing at eleven months? Somethings not right. What's the voltage at your outlet? Does it match your Data Plate on the kiln? Running 208volt kilns on 240 volt will make things go haywire.
Rich.
Tell us more information. The two elements that burned out, where?, in the middle or at the ends where the connectors are at?
Are you just doing Glass or are you doing other things in the kiln? Carbon burnouts? Wax casting? What temperature? Some atmospheres are detrimental to elements. Thermocouple failing at eleven months? Somethings not right. What's the voltage at your outlet? Does it match your Data Plate on the kiln? Running 208volt kilns on 240 volt will make things go haywire.
Rich.
L&L
Rich,
Great questions from someone who obviously knows kilns well, so here's your answers.
The voltage is correct. The elements that died are (counting from the top) #3 and #6. As far as I can tell, #6 was dead on arrival and I didn't know it. I put in a bottom shelf that was actually above that element. Later, I noticed that #5 was glowing and no other element was and, knowing #5 & 6 are in parallel, I got suspicious and checked. It was open, so I took #5 off line as well and just used the top 4. Then, for no obvious reason, #3 failed.
The only way I got to buy this kiln is that I'm married to a potter and she believes I bought it to do her high fire clay work in. Well, that's partly true. I do a fair amount of casting, pot melts and multiple layer platter firings. I've done a couple of wax burn outs on large castings but that's not a regular thing.
At the places where the elements opened, I checked for weird stuff in the element holder and found none. A bit of residue from where it opened but it all brushed off. When I do clay pieces for my wife, it's very simple bisque and standard 06 glazing. This is, after all, a pottery kiln. That's what it was built to be used as so I can't imagine the pottery stuff causing any trouble.
Anyway, L&L has sent me an entire set of elements. Hopefully this will take care of the problems. Any other ideas you've got would be appreciated.
Jerry
Great questions from someone who obviously knows kilns well, so here's your answers.
The voltage is correct. The elements that died are (counting from the top) #3 and #6. As far as I can tell, #6 was dead on arrival and I didn't know it. I put in a bottom shelf that was actually above that element. Later, I noticed that #5 was glowing and no other element was and, knowing #5 & 6 are in parallel, I got suspicious and checked. It was open, so I took #5 off line as well and just used the top 4. Then, for no obvious reason, #3 failed.
The only way I got to buy this kiln is that I'm married to a potter and she believes I bought it to do her high fire clay work in. Well, that's partly true. I do a fair amount of casting, pot melts and multiple layer platter firings. I've done a couple of wax burn outs on large castings but that's not a regular thing.
At the places where the elements opened, I checked for weird stuff in the element holder and found none. A bit of residue from where it opened but it all brushed off. When I do clay pieces for my wife, it's very simple bisque and standard 06 glazing. This is, after all, a pottery kiln. That's what it was built to be used as so I can't imagine the pottery stuff causing any trouble.
Anyway, L&L has sent me an entire set of elements. Hopefully this will take care of the problems. Any other ideas you've got would be appreciated.
Jerry
Jerry:
I would check for loose connections. Bad crimp, loose wire, etc. If #6 element was bad from the start, this makes bad connections a distinct possibility. Pull on all the wires, gently, see if anything else falls apart.
Does anybody apply glaze in the kiln? (some do). Glaze on elements will make them burn out at temp.
When you replace the elements, make sure that all the residue is out of the grooves, use a small vacuum. If the vacuum has a metal tip, make sure the digital controller is unplugged.
Sometimes things jar loose in shipping.
Rich!
I would check for loose connections. Bad crimp, loose wire, etc. If #6 element was bad from the start, this makes bad connections a distinct possibility. Pull on all the wires, gently, see if anything else falls apart.
Does anybody apply glaze in the kiln? (some do). Glaze on elements will make them burn out at temp.
When you replace the elements, make sure that all the residue is out of the grooves, use a small vacuum. If the vacuum has a metal tip, make sure the digital controller is unplugged.
Sometimes things jar loose in shipping.
Rich!
L&L
Okay, Rich, I'll do all that stuff. To the best of my knowledge, no one applies glazes in the kiln. The wife is too short to reach the bottom shelf so I get to do all the loading.
Your comment about the loose connections was good. The first time I had to take the front panel off, I did check for loose wires and found that the ground from the plug wasn't tightened. The nut was on the shaft but only finger tight! I DID go over everything else to make sure there weren't any other ones like it.
If there's more to say after I change all the elements, I'll let you know. I sure hope this does it; I paid too much money for the privilidge of rebuilding this thing this soon.
Jerry
Your comment about the loose connections was good. The first time I had to take the front panel off, I did check for loose wires and found that the ground from the plug wasn't tightened. The nut was on the shaft but only finger tight! I DID go over everything else to make sure there weren't any other ones like it.
If there's more to say after I change all the elements, I'll let you know. I sure hope this does it; I paid too much money for the privilidge of rebuilding this thing this soon.
Jerry