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Kiln Pointers
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How to Install Push-on Terminals |
CONTENTS How to Install Push-on Terminals Reader Response: King Tut exhibit Recent Q&A: Overloading a circuit A Kiln Story: When Lightning Struck a Kiln Memorable Quote News: 1852 Kiln Unearthed in Utah ----------- HOW TO INSTALL PUSH-ON TERMINALS The push-on terminal is a small electrical connector on the end of a wire. Push-on terminals connect wires to the switches and relays inside a kiln. Do not use the terminals and wire sold in hardware stores. Kilns require high-temperature parts. When replacing a part such as a switch, also replace the push-on connectors that have been damaged by heat. The push-on terminal should be tight. If the push-on terminals are on so tight that they are difficult to remove from the switch, grip the terminals with needle-nose pliers. Push the terminals onto the blades of the new switch or relay as far as the terminals will go. The push-on terminals must be fully seated on the blades of the new part. Again, use pliers to push the terminals into place. Make sure the wires are securely fastened to their terminals. A loose wire can destroy a new relay or switch by arcing and overheating. ----------- READER RESPONSE Last week I mentioned seeing the King Tut exhibit in Dallas. Ann Davis of Washington, DC wrote, “We spent three days going through the Cairo Museum once, and even went to Tut's tomb. Oh, the faience! I taught pottery at the time and had to scramble for faience recipes so I could copy that blue color. I found old faience recipes. The stuff was so runny it puddled on the kiln shelves. What a mess! I think I had too much tin in it. Those Egyptians were clever. They could make it work.” ----------- RECENT Q&A Q. I am going to fire a 120-volt kiln and a small air conditioner in a garage that has only one circuit. Any advice? A. Your kiln should have a separate circuit of its own. If it fires on the same circuit as the air conditioner, the breaker will trip. Since you have only one circuit in the garage, you will have to run the air conditioner and the kiln one at a time. ----------- A KILN STORY: When Lightning Struck a Kiln By Yvonne George of Sanford, North Carolina Well, I DID IT! Yes, I changed the thermocouple...all by myself! Now, that may not seem like a big thing to you, but it was monumental to me. Electrical things intimidate me...for a very good reason. Three years ago I was standing by my kiln when I heard thunder in the distance. I was 5-6 inches away from the metal jacket of the kiln and not in contact with it. A neighbor was standing on the other side of the garage when the next lightning strike came through my kiln and bounced into me. My friend saw a big white flash, though I only vaguely remember seeing it. The thunder was loud, but I never heard it since the hit to my stomach took away all sense of other events. I was dazed, had a bad headache, and felt like a horse had kicked me in the stomach. The lightning left three small burn marks on my abdomen. My neighbor got me into the house where both our husbands were and sat me down. I rested the rest of the day and into the next day when my headache slowly subsided. After relaying this unusual story to my grown kids, they insisted I see a doctor, which as a nurse I felt was excessive. I called one, and she insisted on seeing me with the explanation that every bodily system needed to be checked. She said electrical damage can show up as long as a week later. Before changing the thermocouple, I read the instructions over and over and decided that they were clear and simple. Took under an hour with the hardest part being the removal of all the screws from the electrical box. I have fired the kiln twice since Saturday. The only difference I see is the temperature shown is one degree higher than before. I can live with that. Thanks to Paragon for such a great product...and great instructions. If I can make a repair, anyone can. But when a heating coil burns out, you may have to come and change it. Don't think I'm ready for that! ----------- MEMORABLE QUOTE "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." Thomas Edison ----------- NEWS: 1852 Kiln Unearthed in Utah By Tim Scarlett (414-418-9681), director of the Utah Pottery Project Our excavations have unearthed the first English-style updraft kiln to be studied by scholars west of the Mississippi River. The Davenport family left Brampton, England and set up their shop in Utah. The family of factory throwers had to reinvent techniques and round out their skills from just throwing to include finding and processing raw clays, building and operating kilns, and finding and making glazes that would stick to the pots. Potters can imagine how difficult that must have been in 1852 on Utah's frontier. (Tim Scarlett is an associate professor in the Industrial Heritage and Archaeology program, Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University.) Click here for Utah Pottery Project
----------- Thunder woke me at 3:00 this morning. Light flashed in through the rain-pelted windows. As the storm intensified, the crack of thunder became one continuous, faint roar, like a low growl. Please feel free to join me on Twitter: Thank you, With best wishes, Arnold Howard Paragon Industries, L.P. – Better Designed Kilns 2011 South Town East Blvd. Mesquite, Texas 75149-1122 Voice: 972-288-7557 & 800-876-4328 / Fax: 972-222-0646 ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com PRIVACY NOTICE: Under no circumstance do we share or sell your email address. Copyright 2009, by Paragon Industries, L.P. |
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