Instruction manual

ManualsBrandsSentry ManualsConsumer electronicsSentry Xpress Sentry Xpress 4.0

2 Cone-Fire / Ramp-Hold

Contents

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

Time and Temperature Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

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

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

Scrolling Numbers Rapidly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Program Review & Repeat Firing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

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

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

Adverse Weather. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Canceling a New Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Two Firing Modes: Cone-Fire and Ramp-Hold . . . . . . . . . 5

Cone-Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Pyrometric Witness Cones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

How to Interpret the Bending of a Pyrometric Cone . . . . . 5

How to Correct for Under- or Over-Fired Cones . . . . . . . . 5

Cone-Fire Programming Instructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Cone-Fire Hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

When the Kiln Shuts Off Too Soon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

How to Customize Cone-Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Ramp-Hold Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Storing Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Ramp-Hold Programming Instructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Hold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Temperature Over-Shoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Programming a Cooling Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Advanced Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Skip Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Add Hold Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Editing the Target Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

The Alarm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Lost Wax Burnout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Error Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

/ Bad Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

/ Electronics Too Hot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

/ Thermocouple Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Error Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

/ Fired Too Long. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

/ High Temperature Deviation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

/ Power Failure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

/ Thermocouple Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

/ Thermocouple Lag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

/ Thermocouple Reversed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Thermocouple Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Selecting °F or °C Display . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Cone-Fire Schedules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Orton Pyrometric Cone Chart. . . . . . . . 16

Display Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Trouble Shooter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Controller display is blank. No heat in kiln. . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Controller display turns on. No heat in kiln.. . . . . . . . . . . 18

Kiln switch box ½ amp fuses keep blowing. . . . . . . . . . . 18

The kiln overfires. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Introduction

Thank you for buying the Sentry Xpress micro proces

sor. We appreciate your business.

When you first connect thepower,thecontroller will dis

play these messages, one after the other:

or a software code (such as 3F-1)

If your controller shows instead of a software code

before appears, then the controller includes only

Skip Segment from the “Advanced Features” on page 10. If

your controller shows a software code such as 3F-1 before

appears, then the controller has all the features in

this manual.

The code that appears when you first turn on the power

to the controller is the software version installed in the

memory chip. The code is not an error message and is not in

the manual, because every time the software is updated,

that code number changes.

Do not worry if you hear a clicking noise during opera-

tion. Mechanical relays click as they turn the heating ele-

ments on and off.

We are constantly trying to find better ways to make

kilns, and your kiln is extremely reliable. Nevertheless, it

contains mechanical parts that eventually wear out. In

some cases, a parts failure can leadtoa kiln overfire. There-

fore it is important that you occasionally check on the kiln

during operation. Although the kiln does not require con-

stant attention, it should never be left unattended. Please

check the kiln especially during the later stages of firing.

Pleaseread the manual. Damagecaused by failure tofol

low instructions is not covered by warranty.

Writenotes on the controller features thatyou use. Then

if you are away from your kiln for a period, you can review

your notes to refresh your memory. When you need to use

additional controller features, such as the temperature

alarm, refer back to the instruction manual. The cover

shows all the controller features at a glance.

Use Program Review (see page 4) every time you fire the

kiln. This is your assurance that you are firing the correct

program. If necessary, check the program in the display

against a written copy.

We trust that you will enjoy your kiln. Once you learn the

basic features of the Sentry Xpress, you will be able to con

trol every stage of firing. This offers learning opportunities

and convenience difficult to imagine with a manual-con

trolled kiln.