This past weekend my Duncan kiln was running a cone 6 glaze firing. About 5 1/2 hours into it the main breaker of my house was tripped. Now by this time it was dark outside..real fun trying to find the battery lanterns in the house using the light from our cell phone. After we got the power back on, I went to the kiln and noticed that the kiln sitter had not shut off the kiln. After unplugging the kiln, I noticed that the wall socket and the plug was melted. I decided it would be a good idea to have the fire dept come and test for any hot wiring in the house after my daughter said her TV was going out everytime I shut the breaker off for the kiln..which by the way is wired to it's own breaker. Everything was safe in the main breaker box so we could go to bed. It was a restless night for me because all I could think about was the 200 pieces I had in the kiln. Many were to be made into jewelry for a wholesale customer appt. later this week. Daybreak finally came..time to see the damage in the kiln. Those items closest to the top of the kiln were almost done. They have shinyness to them but most are the wrong color the items on the floor of the kiln were ornaments for christmas and had a clear glaze on them..the glaze was not even melted.. I am now left with a few salvageable pieces and a kiln that will not come on..I don't have to tell you how important a kiln is to our art and livelihood.
1 comment:
Tracy - glad everything is safe there with your kiln. Good luck with your repairs. You most likely will be able to re-fire the pieces where the glaze did not melt. I have had to do this on a few occasions when one of my elements burned out and the kiln never reached temp. The color results vary just a bit at times, but they should be OK. I forget, are you anywhere near Raleigh? I could fire a load at cone 6 for you if it would help you meet your deadline - I'll be glazing only the next few days. If you are interested, leave a note and I'll get my phone number to you.
- Elaine Ray
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