39
Repairs
Brick Replacement
The premium brick used in Skutt walls will withstand
thousands of firings without crumbling. Broken
element grooves are usually the result of carelessness
in handling the kiln sections or in loading shelves.
It’s almost impossible to cement a broken groove lip
back into place without contaminating the heating
element. If the element starts to sag out of position,
hang it on 1.5 inch element pins inclined toward the
back of the groove.
Caution: Elements become very brittle after a few
firings, so if straightening is necessary, heat the
element electrically to visible redness, unplug the
kiln from the wall and immediately push the element
back into position with a metal implement, reheating
whenever stiffening is detected. Place your
hanging pins in a straight row and the element
will serve the rest of its normal life.
Instructions
●
Order needed bricks from the parts list
available from your Skutt dealer. Replacement
of terminal bricks involves cutting and
renewing element connectors and should
normally be postponed until it’s necessary to
replace that element.
●
If repairing a top ring, disconnect the lid and
remove all fittings from the jacket.
●
Remove the screws that hold the control panel
to the kiln. Swing the panel open. Slide the
connectors off the terminal strip (they are pre-
numbered for easy identification). Unplug the
thermocouple tabs which are marked positive
and negative. Lift the box straight up to remove
it. Place on a clean flat surface.
●
Place the ring, damaged side up, on a perfectly
flat surface such as the kiln lid.
●
Pull out the straight element pins at the ends of
the damaged brick.
●
Gently lift elements from troughs with a pick
or long-nose pliers and gently lift them out
into firing chamber just far enough to allow
damaged brick to be slipped out. Remember
that the elements are brittle.
●
Loosen the worm-type jacket fasteners equally,
.5 inch to .75 inch.
Repairs
