Ramblings

Well, on Thursday our friendly kiln repairman/electrician checked out our 3 phase wiring. There was a major short in the works some where, and the wiring is done in a peculiar fashion. A three phase breaker box should have three switches, one for each phase. Well the box in the kiln room only had one. He turned it to off, then tested, and we were getting juice even though it was off. So after mapping out all our wires, he found that the old breaker box, which I thought was no longer in use, had the other two switches in it, in another room. With both of those off also, he was still getting 240 + volts. So he set out to find where the short was. He found it! a 240 line going into the box had a spot worn through it's outer casing. When he touched it with his pliers, there was a huge flash and thunder clap. It blew the tip off his pliers, and the whole exposed metal was blackend. I was standing a short distance behind him, looking over his shoulder when it happened. Took a few years off my life, I think. He was fine, and pretty amused with me.

Well, problem found and easily fixed. Now we have mountains of greenware to bisque. We started loading it up before he had even packed up his tools. Jerry packed it as tight as possible, every last inch filled I think, and we started the warming cycle. We fire quite a bit of children's/beginner work, and we have found it pays in the long run to warm up every load very slowly. After a warming cycle, we follow the pre-programed bisque cycle in the computer. The bisque cycle is way too fast without the preheat.
So, today, Saturday, I went in to check on it, it was looking good, but too hot for me to unload. Monday I guess I will get another load going.

It was good to have the kiln back to work, and firing properly. We had been under a time crunch getting our kid's summer workshop pieces fired quickly, so they could glaze all there pieces on the last day of class. We were literaly taking wet handbuilt pieces strait from the kids and firing them. So of course that is when the electric problems started. One bisque load failed three (or was it four?) before it completed. We had very hot pots when the class arrived to glaze, and we had to cool off the pots with fans while the kids cooled their jets in the next room :-)