I am very concerned about the noises I heard. I noticed popping and crackling when I opened the lid at around 100 F. I closed the lid and waited a while. I eventually unloaded at 92 F. I can't imagine that the noises are from cooling too fast except that the outside temp was cooler than the kiln temp but other than that the kiln had been cooling for 36 hours. It seems as though my temp readout and the actual temp don't agree b/c the kiln fired hotter than it should have (the 7 cone melted) but the readout was correct for ^6. I didn't have a problem with the bisque fire so I wasn't expecting any problems with the glaze fire----as far as temp goes anyways. I used the cones for good measure, but I didn't check them like I should----LESSON LEARNED. Anyways, does anyone know what the noises are? LMac
Popping noises
Jul 24, 2003
2 Replies
If the noise is coming from the pieces themselves, then it is probably crazing. You may continue to hear it long after the pieces are cool, if the glaze expansion is too great for the body. (I have heard it up to 24 hours later, by which time it had slowed down to one "tink" every hour or so.) You will be able to see fine crazing lines under a magnifier. A 20x microscope is wonderful if you have it, otherwise a hand lens or even your naked eye under a good light.
If the noise was coming only from the kiln, it was probably just the blast of cool air causing sudden shrinkage in all sorts of places in the kiln itself.
I like to wait over night and unload the next morning. It feels like I'm a kid at Christmas again!
Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis Shareware from Interstellar Research
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