Chapter 1
Basic Pointers
In This Chapter you will learn to . . .
G
Choose between Cone-Fire and Ramp-Hold
G
Use the controller in freezing or hot weather
G
Understand the display window layout
G
Easily repeat the last firing
G
Make a quick visual check of your thermocouple
G
Avoid overfiring your kiln
G
Disable the audible alarm
Time and Temperature Displays
Center Dot: Time
A center dot appears during
time display. It separates hours
from minutes. (Example: 1 hour,
30 minutes displays as 01.30.)
During temperature display, the
dot disappears.
Right-Hand Dot: °C
When temperature is dis-
played in °C, a dot appears in the
lower right. In °F display, it disap-
pears. You can choose between
Fahrenheit and Celsius display. See page 19.
Operation Begins
from the IDLE Display
[IDLE]
must appear before you
can fire the kiln.
I
If
[CPLT]
,
[PF3]
, or other message appears instead of
[IDLE]
when the kiln is first turned on, press the
Start/Stop
key (the key with the circular arrow).
[IDLE]
will appear.
I
If you press
Start/Stop
during a firing,
[ABRT]
will ap-
pear. To get back to
[IDLE]
, press
Start/Stop
again.
I
If the display shows an error message such as
[FAIL]
in-
stead of
[IDLE]
, see pages 25-27.
[CPLT]
(firing completed) appears at the end of a firing.
To make
[IDLE]
appear, press
Start/Stop
.
Thermocouple Inspection
The small rod protruding into the firing chamber is the
temperature sensor, or thermocouple.
CAUTION:
Bumping the thermocouple can push
it out of the firing chamber. This could cause an
overfire! The controller does not contain an alarm
to detect this type of failure. Bumping the thermo-
couple could also cause inaccurate readings.
Thermocouples come in different widths. The wider the
thermocouple, the farther it should extend into the firing
chamber. A ¼” - ½” diameter
thermocouple should extend
into the kiln about ¾” - 1”. (Do
not be concerned if your thermo-
couple extends into the firing
chamber even farther.)
Note:
Keep shelves, posts
and ware 1” - 1 ½” away
from the thermocouple.
Keep an extra thermocou-
ple on hand, especially if
you fire hotter than 2000°F /
1093°C.
If you are using a separate portable controller, you will
need to install the thermocouple on the kiln. See the sepa-
rate TnF 2 installation instructions.
How to Scroll Numbers Rapidly
During programming, hold an arrow key down several
seconds, and numbers will begin to scroll rapidly. Ordi-
narily, you would press the
Up Arrow
to raise a number
and the
Down Arrow
to lower it. But sometimes it is faster
to press the opposite key. This is because the numbers scroll
below 0000 to the highest number, and vice versa. Exam-
ples:
I
To program a 99.59 hour Hold when the display shows
[00.00]
, press the
Down Arrow
once.
I
To program a FULL rate when the display shows
[0000]
, press the
Down Arrow
once.
I
To program a temperature of 200°F when the display
shows
[1800]
, press the
Up Arrow
. That is faster than
pressing the
Down Arrow
and scrolling from 1800 to
200.
Program Review & Repeat Firing
Program Review lets you check that the program in the
controller is accurate. Use Program Review before every
firing. It takes only seconds. Program Review shows the val-
ues for the program in active memory. Use Program Re-
view from
[IDLE]
to repeat the last program you fired. The
program in active memory is 1) the program that you fired
last, or 2) the program that you entered or selected since
the last firing.
I
Using Program Review during firing: Press the
Down
Arrow
key. The rate, temperature, hold, etc. will dis-
play one after the other. The firing will continue.
I
To repeat a firing, use Program Review from
[IDLE]
:
Press the
Down Arrow
key. After rate, temperature,
hold, etc.,
[STRT]
will appear. Press
Start/Stop
.
[DELA]
will appear unless it has been removed in Op-
tions. Enter the delay time, or press the
Start/Stop
key.
[-ON-]
will appear, and the kiln will begin firing the pro-
gram just reviewed.
Pointer:
When
[DELA]
flashes after
[STRT]
, you
can end the firing before it begins. Do nothing for
60 seconds. The display will return to
[IDLE]
.
Keep the kiln lid or door closed when the kiln is not in use.
5
Pointer:
Keep shelv es,
posts and ware 1” - 1 ½” away
from the thermocouple.
Time
°C
