MadDog Mike's Platterful of Pupule - El Tiki/Ben Wilson Wall Finished - Other Crafts

M MadDogMike Grand Member (8 years) The Anvil of the Sun Joined: Mar 30, 2008 Posts: 11037	M MadDogMike Posted posted on Thu, Apr 28, 2016 5:50 PM I found a kiln controller for $400 from TheroMart in Canada and my sweetheart bought it for me for Christmas. My manual kiln WITHOUT an automatic shut-off was a pain in the butt. Normal firing schedule was to turn it on low at 6am, turn it to medium at noon, and to high at 2pm. Check on it every hour or so until it close to temp then check every 15 minutes until time to turn it off. Averaged about 10 trips to the kiln per firing and had to be done on the weekend when I was going to be home. So I was looking forward to being able to set the kiln controller and walk away but it turned out to be rather frustrating. This controller is made for a wide range of temperature control application, everything from ceramics firing to beer making. So it doesn’t come programmed. That’s fine except the programming directions sucked. So did customer service. It always took 1-4 WEEKS for them to get back to me and they we’re very helpful when they did reply. Finally got it programmed and it still wouldn’t work. Turned out my outlet wiring couldn’t carry enough current and the voltage drop kept re-setting the controller. So I ran a new heavy duty circuit and a new breaker. 4 months and 3 days after Christmas it looks like it is finally working!!!

I found a kiln controller for $400 from TheroMart in Canada and my sweetheart bought it for me for Christmas. My manual kiln WITHOUT an automatic shut-off was a pain in the butt. Normal firing schedule was to turn it on low at 6am, turn it to medium at noon, and to high at 2pm. Check on it every hour or so until it close to temp then check every 15 minutes until time to turn it off. Averaged about 10 trips to the kiln per firing and had to be done on the weekend when I was going to be home.
So I was looking forward to being able to set the kiln controller and walk away but it turned out to be rather frustrating. This controller is made for a wide range of temperature control application, everything from ceramics firing to beer making. So it doesn’t come programmed. That’s fine except the programming directions sucked. So did customer service. It always took 1-4 WEEKS for them to get back to me and they we’re very helpful when they did reply. Finally got it programmed and it still wouldn’t work. Turned out my outlet wiring couldn’t carry enough current and the voltage drop kept re-setting the controller. So I ran a new heavy duty circuit and a new breaker. 4 months and 3 days after Christmas it looks like it is finally working!!!

Post #763030 by MadDogMike on Thu, Apr 28, 2016 5:50 PM