TROUBLESHOOTING AND REPAIR INSTRUCTIONS FOR L&L KILNS
troubleshoot-general.pdf
REV: 4/15/2017
Page 9
2017
L&L Kiln Mfg, Inc. 505 Sharptown Rd, Swedesboro NJ 08085 856.294.0077 F:856.294.0070 [email protected] hotkilns.com
Vent System
1) Is your vent system on and pulling air? You can check
this with a source of smoke in a cold kiln. (If you burn a
small piece of paper near the holes on the bottom of the
kiln with the vent on and THE KILN OFF you can see if the
smoke is being drawn into the holes. You can also check
this by feeling the output of the vent when the kiln is at high
temperatures. The air coming out should be quite warm to
the touch (about 110°F to 140°F). The Vent-Sure will aid in
keeping your kiln uniform by drawing hot air from the top of
the kiln towards the bottom. It counteracts the natural rising
of the heat.
2) If you want to increase draw first close the Bypass valve
on the Bypass Collection Box under the kiln. You can also
increase the size of the vent holes in the bottom of the
kiln. You can also try taking out the top peephole plug.
See the L&L VENT-SURE DOWNDRAFT KILN VENT
INSTRUCTIONS in the VENT section of your instruction
manual or
hotkilns.com/vent-sure-instructions
.
KILN FIRES TOO HOT OR COLD
Firing with Cones
Try using cone packs in all sections (top, center, bottom)
of the kiln and keep records of what happens. See the
TROUBLESHOOTING KILN FIRING WITH CONE PACKS
in the LOG, CONES,TIPS, CERAMIC PROCESS tab or
hotkilns.com/troubleshooting-cones.
Easy-Fire vs Vary-Fire (on DynaTrol)
Keep in mind that the Easy-Fire programs feature Orton
software that adjusts the final temperature based on the
speed of firing. This in effect adjusts the heat-work and
hence the actual cone that the kiln fires to. This applies to
Easy-Fire and cone-fire Vary-Fire programs.
Be Careful with Hold Times
Be very careful with hold times. Even a fairly short hold time
of 10 minutes can dramatically increase the amount of heat
work and hence the cone that the kiln fires to. On the other
hand you can use the hold time to increase the heat-work
to compensate for underfired work. Just test this in small
increments.
Control Settings
1) The ceramic thermocouple protection tubes introduce
a known error into the system. This is covered in the
Operational Instructions but bears repeating here. The
temperature that is measured by the tip of the thermocouple
is approximately 18 Deg F cooler than the actual kiln
temperature. We have found through extensive testing
that the best way to compensate for this is to put in a
Thermocouple Offset of + 18 Deg on each thermocouple.
The specific setting is
0018
on Easy-Fire kilns, along with
a Cone Offset of -
20
(setting is
9020
) for EACH cone
that you fire to on the Easy-Fire Programs (or
9030
on
cones 022 to 017).
2) We have already programmed the control with this
information so that you don’t have to do it. However, we
also provide step-by-step instructions on how to do it in
BASIC OPERATION OF L&L KILNS WITH A DYNATROL
700 in the OPERATION tab of your manual (or
hotkilns.
com/basic-operation-dynatrol
) and the OPERATION
OF L&L KILNS WITH A ONE-TOUCH™ (Deg F) in the
OPERATION tab of the School-Master instruction manual
(or
hotkilns.com/basic-one-touch-f
) If you are using the
VARY-FIRE programming on an Easy-Fire kiln then use a
Thermocouple Offset of plus 70 (setting is
0070
).
Thermocouple Drift
Thermocouples drift in their accuracy with time. You may
have to make further adjustments in the Thermocouple
Offset or Cone Offset settings over time. You should
change all thermocouples when you change elements
because they age at approximately the same rate.
KILN STALLS
1) The kiln may refuse to increase in temperature, and the
kiln will just run on and on. If it is re-started it may work fine
for a while. The most likely cause is old or failing elements
or relays. An issue in one circuit/section/zone can cause
the whole kiln to stall as it waits for the problem section to
“catch up”. Check the temperatures in all zones to see if one
zone is lagging behind and test elements and relays.
2) Thermocouples close to end of their useful life can cause
some of these same problems.
3) Sometimes excessive ambient temperatures (over 125°F)
around the control can cause stalling too.
4) Corroded connection points can also cause stalling.
5) Generally you will see the error message
Err1
when
this happens.