WarmGlass.com

Hi
I live in Woodstock, NY and moved to a new home. My kiln is in an unheated garage. The kiln was working well originally but now is intermittently not completing the firing schedule. Sometimes it fires properly. But sometimes it fires fine for most of the firing schedule but gets "stuck" as it nears the end. At about 250 degrees on its way down, the temp goes up 100 degrees to aprox 350, then back down to aprox 250, then stays at that temperature. I finally shut the kiln off. Does anyone think the unheated garage is affecting the electronic controls? It is an Olympic Champ model XL. Thanks for any advice.

Hi Susan,

Don't have an answer but a possible idea. Is the relay switch temporarily sticking in the on position causing the kiln to heat up and then releasing to enable the kiln to cool properly. Check when it starts the unwanted heating. Do the relay switches click on or off at all? It may be that the relay switches need to be replaced. Any chance that you have an unwanted segment in your firing schedule?

Cheers,

Bob

The unheated garage is totally irrelevant. You have a programming issue. It doesn't take much overshoot to pop the temp from 250 to 350, when your elements are designed to hold 1600º. I would figure out where you can get competent customer service. Call the controller manufacturer, kiln manufacturer, or kiln seller, and explore your PID options.

Thank you for your replies. I spoke to a rep at Olympic and will do some test firings to figure out if it is the controller.
Susan

Really, really check and double check your firing schedule.
It is really easy to read something that is not there.
If possible,have someone else check the schedule.
Also, please post your schedule. That way we can have some more info, and possibly fix your problem
The other Jim

Hi. Here's an update on my olympic champ XL kiln. Olympic was very helpful and suggested I make two simple projects to slump test for each program. As there are four programs, that's a lot of time to spend testing the kiln for someone like me who works full time. So I tested program one, entering the schedule each time. The kiln worked perfectly. I have not yet tested any of the other programs but will do that as time goes on. I always enter the program each time and review it carefully. Meanwhile, I've been using the kiln and really enjoying my time making plates and bowls. Thanks again to everyone who responded. I spend a lot of time reading posts on this board, in all the forums. I found warm tips and have read some of those too. One of the most special aspects of reading these posts for me is clicking on the websites of those making comments and looking at their work. I've seen such interesting and beautiful pieces and learned so much. For a newbie, this forum is so informative. Thanks to all. If anyone knows people doing kiln formed glass in the Hudson Valley of NY, I'd be interested in making connections.
Susan