During my latest glaze firing I had a few experimental pieces as well as general inventory for my shop. Everything went well for the first bit of the firing process, then at some point around hour eleven the kiln began to cool rapidly. It threw an error code and shut off. When I went to check and see if it had cooled enough to take pieces out I found the code and the kiln cold.
Begin panic attack here.
I watched everything flash before my eyes. If my kiln was broken all production comes to a screeching halt. My classes end because I can’t fire student work without a kiln. It all added up and sent me into a little spiral of sadness. I’ve worked so hard to get where I am with this that having a misfire like that really set me back. Apparently what happened was that the heating element broke during the hardest part of a glaze firing (the final ramp up in temperature). In the process of cooling too fast it wrecked the glazing on a few items and shattered some of the fire brick inside.
I began googling for answers. Was the kiln trash? Could I get the element replaced? A new kiln isn’t cheap and I don’t have that kind of money. First search resulted in a general estimate between $750-$1,000. That seemed outrageous to me because the kiln only cost me $900 used. I see other potters talk about replacing the elements in their kilns regularly, so it can’t be almost as expensive as getting another kiln. I must be looking in the wrong place. I took a break from the panicking and told my husband about it. He began a search of his own. I’m not nearly as tech savvy as he is. He found the part for $50 and a YouTube video on replacing it.
I pride myself on being fairly handy, so we’ve ordered the part and I’m going to try to replace it myself. How hard can it be? Famous last words.