Silent buttons

[Vicki]

My kilns stopped beeping when I press the buttons, it still beeps when I turn it on & it still works, does this matter?

Also do they need servicing every so often, mine will be a year old in february will it need a 10,000 mile check

[Lee - Kilncare]

Hi Vicki, firstly what kiln/controller do you have. If it has stopped beeping but still works O.K. then it may well just be the internal sounder in the controller.

As for getting a service. I think you will find that 90% of kiln users don't get their kilns serviced until it stops working which can be many years. There is very little to service in a kiln.
The main cause of problems is loose connections. A loose connection will cause the connection to get hot, which will loosen it further, which will cause it to get hotter e.t.c. until it burns out and fails. Loose thermocouple connections could, in certain circumstances give false temperature readings, though this is rare.

My advice would be once a year or so, make sure the kiln is unplugged and tighten up any connection you can get too - carefully. Certainly the ends of the elements can be brittle after time.

Paying to have your kiln serviced may cost you £50 - £70 per year. A serviceable fault (i.e. not one that a service would prevent such as electronics) may cost you £50 -£150 to have repaired, so, is it worth having it serviced??

Or

You could do as most people do and not bother until something goes wrong which could be many years but will ALWAYS be when you at your busiest. 

Final word, I guess, as a kiln man I should reccomend that you have you kiln serviced every year by a competant person so as to ensure both the electrical safety and the correct operation of the kiln. It's just that I know the reality is much different. 

[Vicki]

Thank you Lee   I have an SC2, it is working fine & not having the beep isn't bothering me, I just wanted to check there wasn't an underlying problem