The ultimate in precision firing is achieved by using the DynaTrol to control the ramping of the kiln (both up and down) but using a witness cone and your eye to control when the firing stops.
Kiln controls are limited in their intelligence. They rely on thermocouples (which drift in accuracy over time), ambient temperature compensation in the control, and the accuracy of the electronics themselves - to say nothing of the placement of work in relation to the thermocouples, weight of work, etc. Nothing will be better than using a large self-supporting witness cone and your eye looking through the peepholes to determine the best time to stop the firing.
If you are firing an Easy-Fire program you can do this by just turning off the kiln when the proper degree on the cone is reached. You may need to set the program to fire to a higher cone or tweak the cone offset or thermocouple offset to slightly overfire.
What do you do if you want to manually control the end of firing but want to keep firing in a controlled cooled program?
- Use a Vary-Fire program.
- Model the program on the standard Easy-Fire programs that you want to approximate.
- Enter in a cooling segment (down ramp) or two.
- Perhaps set the final set point a little higher than you think you need to go.
- When it comes time to stop the firing press REVIEW SEGMENT, ENTER, ENTER.
- That will skip to the next segment - which will be the cooling portion of your program.
Write down the temperature at which the cone bent so you can improve your final set point temperature over time.
You may want to set the audible alarm to buzz at 100 Deg before the end of firing or set an alarm clock or reminder on your phone.
