Lee From KilnCare: Paragon Kiln Burns House Down

[Robin]

hi

i rarely go to frit, as i have little experience of beadwork - others plainly know far more than i do. i encourage my resellers, some of whom are mentioned on frit, to do their best and i don't want them to have to deal with US/UK/electrical/quality issues. esp as most of them haven't had to take kilns apart and rebuild them.

i did explain: someone writes a topic heading like 'Paragon Kiln Burns House Down'. 50 people make a variety of comments, some positive, some negative, some irrational, some supportive, some funny, and some biased.

by the time i get to respond, if i ever know about it, almost no one reads through all the mails to follow the thread and the negative topic heading stays there for ages. so really this is what annoys me: the damming heading remains even if the fault was a user-fault or a minor thing fixed with a phone call (or a fire engine).

my only aim is to get people to enjoy their kilns, and learn how/why they work, and what to do if they don't. testing and repairs are easy and i want to encourage people to try, although i'm quite happy to get the kiln picked up.

re your comment about earthing: the kiln should be OFF whilst using an ohm meter to check the element resistance.

anyway, let's leave it at that. i know you provide a lot of useful advice but 'kiln guru' makes you sound independent. it's a little bit like a main distributor setting up a guild and then semi-promoting themselves over their members.

i did a degree in electronics, taught maths, was an industrial designer, an interior designer, and a garden planner, did hundreds of house conversions (electrics as well), have written loads of websites, taught english, became an artclay instructor, and have worked with kilns for 5 years. curiously, the only people i've met who have had a shock are builders. work that out?

thanks for response. all ok now. i think i'll leave frit to the fritters.

rob