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will stuff in my kiln room spontaniously combust?

Hi Everyone, I fire an electric kiln to cone 6 in my upstairs spare bedroom. The room is about 12 by 14 feet and the only thing in it is the kiln and some glazes and a couple of shelves to store bisqued pots and a table. But in the closet I have stored some clothes in plastic bags. The closet is about 10 or 11 feet from the kiln. My husband is worred that the plastic bags might combust due to the heat in the room. It usually doesn't get hotter than 85 or 90 degrees F. if I remember to open a window. Also the kiln is vented. I've been firing under these conditions for about 3 years. So far all is well. Does anyone know about the safety of this kiln room? Thanks, Sandi

Reply to
Red Deer
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i hope you still have the standard stand under the spa. my Cress FX28 has a blue stand the kiln sits on.

the handbook says this is the "UL Approved" distance from ANY combustable source.

i keep the spa that close to the floor (obviously), walls, and make sure nothing else gets in the area closer then that stand height.

in practice i keep most things farther away but surly don't worry about it.

keep that basic distance away from everything & you're fine.

see ya

steve

Reply to
slgraber

What is the floor and the walls made of? Is there any wood in the room? I would keep a bucket of water in there to keep the humidity up. I'm surprised that it never gets above 90 Degrees. I don't think the plastic bags would combust but wood would if it dried out enough and catch a spark from an outlet.

Reply to
dkat

If your room is truly staying that cool, in fact pretty much if your room is cool enough to not chase you out instantly, you're probably OK, as long as you don't keep any combustible liquids in there. Plastic will melt first, and you're not saying you're finding any melted bags, so that is a good sign.

Finally, wood needs a lot hotter than you're going to be able to stand in order to combust.

Reply to
Scoop

Frankly I feel you have nothing to worry about provided you make sure that a) the windows are always open when you are firing and cooling down, and b) IF the floor is wood or a wood compost, the kiln is standing on something like a paving slab. The risk of the contents of the closet combusting is negligible; Polythene melts at about 145oC (293oF) the flash point is a lot higher at 221oC (429.8oF):

that is an awful lot more then 90oF!

Steve Bath UK

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Reply to
Steve Mills

The only time I have known a kiln related fire, was when my pottery tutor had two kilns.... One was loaded and lid down the other one was empty and lid open. He switched on the electric supply to the wrong kiln (unfortunately for him - it was the empty open one). This particular time he was unwell and not concentrating on the job in hand - so he had a good excuse for his mistake.

My kilns are situated in our garage (detached from the house). I've been told that the recommended distance from walls is at least 30cm....with lid down I've never had any problems with 'external' combustion.

Jo Midlands UK

Reply to
JM

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