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Preventative Maintenance
Preventive Maintenance
All Kilns
Vacuum floor and element grooves regularly. Carefully vacuum around thermocouple and elements.
Leave KM kilns plugged in when you are vacuuming to ground any static charges that may occur at
the nozzle tip of the vacuum. Try to keep the vacuum away from the touch pad area.
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Inspect Plug and Wall receptacle for any indication of excessive heat. Replace both plug and receptacle if
necessary.
KM Kilns
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Inspect the thermocouple for cracks or bends which could cause failure. Check and tighten thermocouple
screw connections at the porcelain block. The thermocouple electronic circuitry may drift out of calibration.
You can monitor the performance of your kiln with witness cone placed in the kiln. If the controller needs
adjustment to fire hotter or cooler you can program a cone fire offset adjustment on the controller.
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Inspect connections at the terminal strip. If any feeder wire or thermocouple connections are loose you
can tighten the screws that hold the tabs with the tabs in the most counter-clockwise position possible.
If the connectors are loose do not pinch the female connectors with pliers. Replace them. Pinching can
distort and minimize the electrical contact area in the connector.
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KM1231-3PK and KM1227-3PK have screw type element connectors at the element ends that may need
tightening periodically.
Kiln Sitter (KS) kilns
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The tube assembly should be inspected and cleaned of any debris in the tube. The sensing rod should
move freely in the tube.
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The sensing rod should be replaced if the tip is worn too thin or otherwise damaged.
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The falling weight and claw adjustments should be checked with the gauge washer periodically.
Tightening stainless steel bands
This operation is done while the kiln is cool and at room
temperature.
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Grasp adjusting screws in one hand with channel locks or a
pair of vise grips.
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With other hand, Use a large flat screwdriver to tighten ad-
justing screws.
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To make bands extra tight, heat metal bands with a propane
torch. Be sure to only heat the metal bands, and not the fire-
brick. Once the band is heated retighten screws.