Instruction manual

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next cone will vary. As a rule of thumb, 45 - 60 minutes of
hold = one cone of heat work.
Example: to fire to cone 05, program Cone-Fire for 06
and add 45-60 minutes of hold time.
If your kiln has a peephole, watch the pyrometric witness
cones during firing. Press STOP when the correct witness
cone bends. Note how much Hold time was needed. Pro
-
gram that much Hold time the next time you fire the same
type of ware.
Note: During Hold, the display temperature will al
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ternate with time left in Hold. To figure hold time
for the next firing, subtract time left in Hold from
the total Hold time entered.
When Hold is set to 99.99 hours, the Sentry Xpress will re
-
main at that temperature indefinitely, until STOP is pressed.
When the Kiln Shuts Off Too Soon
If the kiln shuts off before the pyrometric witness cone
bends, you can turn the hot kiln back on and keep firing.
1 From IdLE , program the next hotter cone in
Cone-Fire.
2 Strt will appear. To begin firing, press START.
-On- will appear and the Run indicator light will
begin blinking. The hot kiln will begin firing, taking
up where it left off.
How to Customize Cone-Fire
You can customize a Cone-Fire program using
Ramp-Hold. On pages 12 and 13, tables show the segments
used to program each cone number in Cone-Fire. For in-
stance, a cone 016 firing at medium speed ( _Ed )uses these
two segments:
Rate Temp.
Segment °F/°C °F/°C Hold
1 396/220 1314/712 00.00
2 108/60 1422/772 00.00
Suppose your 016 witness cone, at a medium speed firing,
only barely started to bend. To fire 25° hotter, raise the target
temperature of segment 2 by 25°:
1422 + 25 = 1447
This is the program you would enter in Ramp-Hold:
Rate Temp.
Segment °F/°C °F/°C Hold
1 396/220 1314/712 00.00
2 108/60 1447/786 00.00
You could also easily add a slow cooling segment:
Rate Temp.
Segment °F/°C °F/°C Hold
1 396/220 1314/712 00.00
2 108/60 1447/786 00.00
3 100/55 1000/537 00.00
Cone-Fire Firing
Instructions
1 From IdLE , press START.
2 Using the Up Arrow key (not the Down Arrow),
by-pass ProG and select COnE . Then press
START.
3 The last pyrometric cone you fired, and its tem
-
perature, will appear. Use the arrow keys to
change the cone number. Then press START.
4 SLO _ Ed or FASt will appear. Use the ar
-
row keys to change speed. Then press START.
5 HLd and the hold time from the last firing will
appear (e.g. 1 hour 10 minutes = 01.10). Use
the arrow keys to change the hold time. Then
press START.
6 Strt will appear. Press START. -On- will ap
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pear, the Run indicator light with begin blink
-
ing, and the kiln will begin firing.
To stop a firing before completion, press
START/STOP. StOP will appear, alternating with kiln
temperature.
Note: Do not be concerned if your kiln makes a
clicking sound during firing. Kilns use relays to
power the elements. The relays click each time
their electrical contacts come together.
Note: The kiln’s actual firing rate may be less
than the rate you programmed, depending on
the kiln model, available voltage, and density of
load you are firing.
When the kiln fires to completion, it will beep for 30
seconds. The display will show the following:
I
Firing time
I
Present temperature
I
CPLt
To return to IdLE , press START.