I ran an overnight program in my SC2 last night following some instructions I'd bought for fusing words onto glass beads.
Well this morning when I came down , the beads had all survived, but the display said FTL
Sounds worryingly like fatal to me, so I'm very nervous about trying another program.
Basically I used beads that had already been kiln annealed, cooled, and had transfers applied, and my program ramped up in 200 degree intervals to 630 degrees, held for 30 mins, ramped down to 520, held for an hour then ramped down.
Hope someone can explain the FTL message.
According to a quick google:
http://www.paragonweb.com/FAQList2.cfm?CID=5 (http://www.paragonweb.com/FAQList2.cfm?CID=5)
"FTL is a 12-key Sentry controller error message that means "Firing Too Long." FTL can appear during either heating or cooling segments. FTL means the temperature has stalled.
FTL will appear when the temperature change is slower than 27°F/60°C per hour and the firing time is four hours longer than the current segment was programmed to fire. If FTL appears during a heating segment, it is usually due to a worn or burned out element, defective relay, low voltage, or a defective thermocouple.
If FTL appears during a cooling segment, it is usually because the segment was programmed to cool faster than the kiln's natural cooling ability. To solve the problem, slow down the cooling rate.
Example: FTL appears during a segment that is programmed to cool from 725°F down to 75°F. The rate is 570°F per hour.
To eliminate the FTL message, try a cooling rate of 100 instead of 570. Or you could remove the segment altogether. The kiln will cool only as fast as its natural cooling ability anyway. So the cooling segment mentioned above serves no purpose. "
FTL on our controllers does not monitor the downward cycle for the very reason you mention Garish.
I can't believe that Paragon would over look this most basic of requirements.
Do you speak from experience of this happening to you also? I've not come across that issue before with and Paragons.
:-[ I've just followed your link to the Paragon site Garish and you are right, the controller will not cope with being set to cool faster than the kiln will unless you remove the segment which allows the kiln to cool at full rate ??? ??? ???, not quite sure how you continue the segments to anneal thereafter however.
So, as you say, if you have FTL show, slow your cooling down or remove the segment.
Phew!!! Thank you so much for the rapid responses. I feel so much better now!!!!!
My heart plumeted when I saw the message this morning.
I'll try again with a slower ramp down on the next batch!
I know nothing, I just Googled ;D ;D
I'm still coming to terms with the idea of not using my own SC2 kiln from a minus temperature ::)
LOL! Mine is in the kitchen until OH builds my shedio, so no chance of it getting cold!!!! For some reason I'm not rushing him to get going on my shedio ;)
Quote from: garishglobes on January 19, 2012, 04:05:02 PM
I'm still coming to terms with the idea of not using my own SC2 kiln from a minus temperature ::)
I've got the "FTL" error a couple of times when I accidentally set 0 as the final target temperature. The poor thing must have given up trying to reach a temperature below room temperature :D