Relay race

As I mentioned, my Skutt GM1414 “bathtub” kiln chose exactly the wrong moment to roll over and play dead: I had a big honking 15-day firing schedule set up for a piece that’s about as large as the kiln can handle. 16 hours into the firing it starts displaying “Err1″ and that’s it–you couldn’t bake a decent cake in the thing.

Still, the poor kiln’s performed flawlessly and uncomplainingly for nearly four years. And since it had fired just enough of the mold to make it too fragile to move, I figured it was worth fixing.

Played phone tag with the nice folks at Skutt for a couple of days, finally connected and explained the trouble. “I’m 95% sure you’ve got a bad relay,” said the expert, adding that a relay replacement kit would most likely take care of the problem.

“Is it easy to install? Does it come with instructions?”

“Yes and yes. We ship it with a complete set of instructions, photos and everything. There’s really NOTHING TO IT.”

Now, in the annals of famous last words, “nothing to it” is right up there with “you can’t miss it.” After (I hope) successfully installing the kit I can say with confidence that there’s really SOMETHING TO IT!

Truthfully, once you get over the idea that the photos should be helping (they’re grainy, out of focus and black and white, which isn’t much help in distinguishing red wires from black or yellow from white), and you learn to ignore the tendency to understatement (”the tool necessary to install the relay replacement kit is a #2 Phillips screwdriver” (yeah, right)), the documentation isn’t bad. It’s written in a good step-by-step order and includes phone numbers to call if you have problems.

But I thought I’d share a few pointers in case anyone else out there needs to upgrade their Skutt GM 1414 relays:

Tool up. The instructions say all you need is a phillips screwdriver. By the time I completed the installation I had used the screwdriver, a pair of pliers, a “third hand” extender to retrieve lost screws, a razor knife to snip off the cable ties, a worklight, pen and paper.

The myth of the black wires. The instructions repeatedly refer to a number of black wires you must locate and either remove or isolate. For the record, the wires inside my controller are white, red, and yellow. Period. The “six black wires” are “six white wires.”

No pushover. If you think the “push-on” connectors on the red wires are hard to remove, just wait till you have have to put them back on. Make sure you remember which way the old ones were attached–it’s easier getting them on if you do it in the same direction.

Unwiring. The instructions suggest you place the controller box on top of the kiln or on a table beside the kiln so you can work on it. I’d like to see them try it; on my kiln the cables are so short they barely allow the box to touch the ground.

Take note. Although the documentation is pretty good about explaining where the new wires go, the photos are, as I said before, lousy. I drew a wiring diagram before disconnecting everything. It helped.

Be careful. The Skutt GM1414 is wrapped with stainless steel bands which are really, really sharp if you should happen to bang up against the bottom of the kiln. (And it should go without saying that you MUST unplug the kiln before grunnying around in its insides.)

Did the relays solve my kiln problem? Let’s hope so. I’ve got the kiln ramping up on its original schedule and I’ll check in an hour or so to see how it’s moving. Cross your fingers for me…

Update: This afternoon the kiln’s still heating and we’re right on schedule. (whew) Hopefully, the fix took!