Hello!
I have found myself with another burnt out element. THe 2nd in 2years,not sure what i am doing that stresses them out so much, but, now iam certainly stressed out with a fair approaching and no kiln for 2 weeks. My question is, does anyone know of anywhere other than paragon kilns, kiln care,creative glass...that stock replacements? I have 2 dead kilns now so a replacement for either would be miraculous! I have an sc2 and a blubird xl/. I know its a long shot but i have to try! Kiln care have offered to make an element up for the bluebid but i need to send them the old element, i am still hopeful (stpidly probably) of finding one somewere. Any ideas?
Mindyxx
Oh no! How frustrating. Sorry to hear that Mindy, they must be blown away with your beautiful beads. :) That's no help whatsoever but could you borrow a bit of kiln space with somebody near you in the short term?
have you tried Cherry Heaven?
http://www.cherryheaven.co.uk/kiln.htm
If want to batch I can anneal some for you!
Hi June
:)
Most of the things i make are pressed or fairly big so the batch annealing thingy sort of scares me a bit! Its crazy but I feel absolutely lost,i make beads every day and the thought of not making them sends a cold shiver up my spine! THey are definatey what keeps me sane. I think that kilncare are going to be my best option but i just wanted to ask anyways. Sometimes i manage to miss the obvious and often, people on here are very clued up about sources for stuf. THanks for the response tho, it made me laugh. :)
Hi Trudi
Sorry,your post came in whilst i was typing. I have treid cherry heaven, they can order me one from the us but it would be 2 weeks. THank you fr the kind offer of batch annealing. I am hoping that i will be able to sort out something but its very kind of you to offer. I'm not sure if the things i make would survive, I have a fibre blanket but most stuff that goes in there comes out in 2 (or more) pieces! Thanks tho.
Mindyx
Why don't you contact Paragon kilns directly? You could ring them using a cheap call line!! I have phoned the USA before and it cost me 1p per minute!! ;)
I've spoken with them in the us twice this week as the kiln has been behaving oddly for a couple of days. THey are very helpful but there is still a wait for the parts. I spoke with cherry heaven and they have a delivery every 2 weeks from paragon but they have just recieved a delivery. Lee from kilncare has however saved the day and is going to make an element or me tommorrow. I just have to zip the old one over to him super quick today and he will try and get the new one made tommorrow and back out int he post !!!!!!. I'm really relieved to say the least!! THanks for the suggestions tho, I'm greatful for the responses. Every time i have a catastrophe, i always manage to over complicate it . When my huband spoke with Lee earlier, we never asked how long it would take and me being a panicker, i asumed it would take ages to custom make an element. I awlays miss the obvious and go staright fo the worse case scenario! I use my kiln every day which is why i guess i have gone through the elemnts twice. The sc2 is so pricey for replacements , i always meant to get it fixed though so i would have an emergency kiln. Lee is going to make me 2 elements so i will have an emergency back up. THank goodness for that. I can breath a sigh of relief! I need to add that the keyboard on my computer is also on the blink so sorry for the attrocious typing, it has a mind of its own....
Mindyxx
Yay - Lee to the rescue - again :D
Glad you'll get it sorted quickly, Mindy!!
Glad you are getting it sorted quickly. It is very annoying when you can't get on! :)
Mindy, I have an SC2 with a window (but no bead door) and mandrels cut to size so they fit inside and a mesh bead rack that you can borrow as a back up. You are welcome to use it and I'm sure it could be sent to you quickly if needed. Let me know if you need it, I can post it to you urgently.
Bev
XXX
Glad to hear it's all getting sorted quickly. I was going to offer to send my SC3 up to you as it's going to be unused for a while. Any extended problems let me know and I'll send it via parcel force.
Jessie
I am glad you have got the kiln problem sorted out!! My SC2 is 6 years old but has a low mileage!! lol :D
Mindy, your elements are done and will be with you before 12 tomorrow.
Cheers
Lee do you wear your underpants under or over your tights???
Flash - we've only got 15 hours to save the kiln........
You are a star though - and your dad too!
Kazx
;D
jings! I have just managed to pop back in here this morning. I cant believe the offers of a kiln on loan ! That is astoundingly kind of you both. I am amazed at peoples generosity, its really , really kind. :)
An update on the situation is that i got the new elements from lee but we fitted them and unfortunately, still no joy. As it is hard to pin down exactly what the problem is, i ended up buying another kiln from lee. I didnt want to be in that situation again and i hope to get the paragon fixed so it can be my spare! |The new kiln is a maxine, its pink and shiny!! I'm not really a pink person but a pink kiln is soooo novel I am over the moon with it. I am just getting out my workshop now and cant wait to get back to work.
Thanks again to everyone who helped out. Lee truly is extremely helpful and quick! Perhaps he does have a superman costume under his clothes. ;D
mindyxxxxxxxxxx
Phew Mindy, so good to hear it got there OK and that you are happy with it.
When you get jobs like this where the customer is desperate, they are normally the ones where the delivery van with the kiln on crashes off the edge of a mountain, or Fedex decide to play football with the parcel.
Let us know how you get on Mindy.
Hi Lee!
That makes me think of "larry Duff" on father ted, the one who always gets a phone call at the moment he is trying to do something pretty dangerous. I imagine that the same sort of laws might apply whenever the univers is aware that someone really needs something...
I have an embarassing admission tho...we both slept right through the fed ex deilvery on saturday after all of your efforts.. we just got the kiln, its wonderful. I cant wait to try it out. TOny had cobbled my old kiln back together using a timer from another old kiln so i was able to get some work in over the weekend. But, this new shiny pink kiln looks wonderful and i cant wait to get out to the wrokshop with it.
thanks again ;D
;D ;D ;D you are kidding, it took me a 16 mile round trip to the local Fedex depot on Friday tea time to get that to you on Saturday!!!!!! >:( >:( ;D ;D ;D
That's tickled me and Brain here in the office to be honest. :) So who got the roasting for that then??
Bet the air was blue eh ;D
I have had 2 elements go on my bluebird in a very short space of time. The second lasted 4 months but paragon replaced it free of charge even though it was a whole month out of its warranty period.
Whilst I was waiting for it to be replaced hubby bridged the gap where the element broke with one of those brass holders that come with the element. It gave me another 2 months of life before it melted away, but the kiln worked perfectly during that time.
So Bluebird users, have we a common theme here in these elements blowing? Would be interesting for me to find out. There may be a market out there for speady replacements.
The current one has been in a couple of months now - Christmas I think it got changed. We took pics all the way through replacing it because paragon asked us to.
I would certainly be interested in getting a new element quicker than the two weeks or so it takes from the States.
Well once we have the spec the elements can be made the same day for delivery the next.
Like I say, if these things blow often enough we may actually keep a few in stock for immediate despatch.
Quote from: Lee - Kilncare on February 22, 2010, 03:44:07 PM
Well once we have the spec the elements can be made the same day for delivery the next.
Like I say, if these things blow often enough we may actually keep a few in stock for immediate despatch.
Always handy to know!
Quote from: Lee - Kilncare on February 22, 2010, 03:44:07 PM
Well once we have the spec the elements can be made the same day for delivery the next.
Like I say, if these things blow often enough we may actually keep a few in stock for immediate despatch.
That would be a relief! ;D
oh lord, now i feel even worse.... i am blaming tony for this one as he forgot to plug the alarm clock in, i have no idea how we never heard the door. Tony swears he got up but then fell back asleep on the chair! The dogs normally go crazy when the door goes too. But, believe me, i was not a happy bunny on saturday, or sunday. But, today, i am over the moon. I absolutely love the new kiln. Its perfect. The rack system is fantastic and the little fringey door bits work perfectly. I am almost glad that the other one broke down now! I really do appreciate all your efforts Lee, i feel very gulity. Will need to send soething by the way of compensation to you. :)
I will be fixing my bluebird. Tony managed to use an old timer switch we had so i could use it on sat night and the new element worked perfectly. I had an sc2 before the bluebird and i was really starting to wonder (still am), what i am doing wrong with my kilns. replacing the element that frequently sounds odd. We are not really sure what is actually the problem this time but the programmer is just not communicating with the element so it isnt switching on at all. Thats why we thought it was the elemnt that had gone. We are going to try replacing the relay and see how that goes. If it works then i will try it in the sc2 too in case thats what happened to it. Paragon in the us had been very helpful too i should mention, but its hard to sort things out when there is such a distance and time delay for replacement parts.
I did have a thought today about what i might have done to the kilns. THe new kilns door stays latched close with the mandrels poking through a little fringe. (sorry lee i'm sure its more technical than that!) Anyhow, it got me thinking about how far open i had my door sometimes on the bluebird. After nearly burning my finger tips off several times, i think i had gradually started to edge my racks to the froont of the kiln making the mandrels wedge the door open more than it shoudl have. I reckon that would stress the whole system. Not sure though but it seems possible.....
Ha, don't you dare send anything, it's all part of the fun. Besides, buying the kiln is plenty, thanks.
Now then, to be honest, I really don't think how far the door is held open can cause the problems you have had.
I guess if the door was raving open then the elements would be on an awful lot more to compensate, but even so, it shouldn't be a problem.
Maybe it's the relay, without going into it further I wouldn't know.
And the fringe...well...we call it the brush or comb...but...when you have spent £695 you can call it what the blinking heck you like ;D
;D