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Sentry Express Digital Temperature Controller 

2

Sharing your passion for making jewelry.

Products. Service. Know-how.

Contents

General Guidelines .....................................................3

Time and Temperature Display .....................................................3

Operation Begins from the IdLE Display ....................................3

Thermocouple Inspection ..............................................................3

A Rapid Way to Scroll Numbers ....................................................3

Program Review & Repeat Firing ..................................................3

Delay .......................................................................................................3

Power Failures .....................................................................................4 

CPLT Message: Firing Completed .................................................4

Thunder Storms and Power Surges .............................................4

Theory of Operation ...................................................4

Rate .........................................................................................................4

Hold.........................................................................................................5

Two Firing Modes: Single Segment and Ramp-Hold ............5

Single Segment Programming Instructions .............................5

Temperature Over-Shoot ................................................................6

Ramp-Hold Mode .......................................................6

Repeat Firings ......................................................................................6

Programming a Cooling Segment ...............................................6

A Ramp-Hold Practice Program ....................................................7

Skipping a Segment in a Ramp-Hold Program .......................7

Ramp-Hold Programming Instructions......................................7

Lost Wax Burnout .......................................................8

Overview ...............................................................................................8

A Sample Program .............................................................................8

Burnout Instructions .........................................................................8

Error Messages............................................................9

bAdP/Bad Programming .................................................................9

EtH/Electronics Too Hot ...................................................................9

FaIL/Thermocouple Failure .............................................................9

TCR/Thermocouple Reversed ........................................................9

FtL/Firing Too Long ...........................................................................9

PF 1/Power Failure .............................................................................9

PF 2/Power Failure .............................................................................9

tC/Thermocouple Failure ................................................................9

Selecting 

°

F or 

°

C Display ...........................................9

Display Messages .................................................... 10
Trouble Shooter ....................................................... 10

Problem: Controller display is blank. No heat in kiln ......... 10

Problem: Controller display turns on. No heat in kiln ........ 11

Problem: Kiln switch box ½ amp fuses keep blowing ....... 11

Safety 

The warranty on your Sentry Xpress controller 

does not cover damage from overfiring, regard-

less of the circumstances. It is the operator’s 

responsibility to make sure the kiln turns off at 

the proper time.

•  When the kiln is not in use, disconnect the 

power.

•  Do not leave the kiln unattended, especially near 

the expected shut-off time.

•  Wear firing safety glasses when looking into the 

firing chamber of a hot kiln.

•  Do not touch hot sides of kiln. Keep unsuper-

vised children away.

•  Install your kiln at least 12 inches from any wall 

or combustible surface.

•  Do not open lid or door until kiln has cooled and 

all switches are off.

•  Fire only in a well-ventilated, covered and pro-

tected area away from combustible materials.

•  Keep cordset away from hot sides of kiln or fur-

nace.

•  DANGEROUS VOLTAGE! Do not touch heating 

elements with anything. Disconnect before ser-

vicing.

©2004, by Paragon Industries, L.P.  IM-221/10-04

Summary of Contents for Sentry Express

Page 1: ...ram From IdLE or during firing press Down Arrow The program you have selected will appear one step at a time 3 Delays a Firing From Strt press Down Arrow F C C Display Dot Time Display Center Display...

Page 2: ...ailure 9 PF 2 Power Failure 9 tC Thermocouple Failure 9 Selecting F or C Display 9 Display Messages 10 Trouble Shooter 10 Problem Controller display is blank No heat in kiln 10 Problem Controller disp...

Page 3: ...because the numbers scroll below 0000 to the highest number and vice versa Examples To program a 99 59 hour Hold when the display shows 00 00 press the Down Arrow once To program a FULL rate when the...

Page 4: ...o miles per hour In summary the controller does three basic tasks 1 It fires at a controlled heating rate or speed mea sured in degrees of temperature change per hour 2 It fires to a target temperatur...

Page 5: ...F 555 C rate per hour List continues on next page Single Segment Programming Instructions Note Single Segment firing is all you will ever need if you are only going to a temperature and holding 1 Fro...

Page 6: ...dy to fire a different program select PrO2 which is Program 2 Then enter temperatures heating rates etc Select Program 3 and 4 the same way A program can have up to 8 segments but you don t have to us...

Page 7: ...ss START Ignore SPd1 SPd5 3 rA 1 will appear Enter firing rate tempera ture change per hour for segment 1 1 slowest rate 1799 F 999 C full power Then press START 4 F 1 or C 1 and the target temperatur...

Page 8: ...Segment 3 lowers the temperatures to 800 F 426 C the typical casting temperature for silver Most types of gold cast at 900 F 482C Note Casting temperature depends on the size of the mold The temperatu...

Page 9: ...FtL Firing Too Long This message appears when both of the following conditions are met The temperature rise or fall is less than 27 F 15 C per hour The firing is 4 hours longer than programmed See Con...

Page 10: ...s when you press the Up Arrow key during a Ramp Hold firing If you press the Up Arrow again the fir ing will skip out of a segment into the next segment STOP The firing was stopped by pressing START S...

Page 11: ...Power Output Test Is the controller sending voltage to the relay Test OUTPUT with a voltmeter 1 UNPLUG kiln disconnect the power Remove the 4 screws holding the controller faceplate to the switch box...

Page 12: ...sing the keys in left column the center message will appear Single Segment Keys to Press Display IdLE SPd1 thru PrO4 Not Down Arrow Select rate SPd1 Sample rate F or C Enter temperature 1900 Sample te...

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