? about digital kiln controller

[ShawnLynn]

I bought this kiln without really doing any research about kilns and now im not sure what to do.
I need desperately a digital controller, and this kiln has an infinite controller.
I paid about 500.00 which i think was too much for the kiln, (Arrow springs AF99) but at the time i did not know much about them and it came in a kit, so not much chioce at the time .
So my ? is should i sell it and get one with a digital controller or should i buy it seperate and add to it. They are expensive, unless someone can give me a website where i havent looked yet.....lol


Thanks~~~Lynn

[pam]

The AF99 is an excellent kiln. The Arrow Springs kilns are the cadillac of kilns as far as I am concerned. I don't think $500 was too much with the infinite controller. One really great thing about Arrow Springs kilns is that they are separate from the controller. My recommendation, if you are ready to invest in a digital controller, is to buy the one from Arrow Springs. I had my AF99 for about 10 years, using the infinite controller for the first 8 years, but then fortunately for me, I bought a digital controller. I love it. The infinite controller still works and I use it on the AF99 kiln at the studio, while the digital is now hooked up to my new Arrow Springs kiln, one that's a little larger. Enjoy and be proud of what you have. You did good.
Pam

[ShawnLynn]

The AF99 is an excellent kiln. The Arrow Springs kilns are the cadillac of kilns as far as I am concerned. I don't think $500 was too much with the infinite controller. One really great thing about Arrow Springs kilns is that they are separate from the controller. My recommendation, if you are ready to invest in a digital controller, is to buy the one from Arrow Springs. I had my AF99 for about 10 years, using the infinite controller for the first 8 years, but then fortunately for me, I bought a digital controller. I love it. The infinite controller still works and I use it on the AF99 kiln at the studio, while the digital is now hooked up to my new Arrow Springs kiln, one that's a little larger. Enjoy and be proud of what you have. You did good.
Pam
Thanks for the info Pam~~
Lynn

[alissa]

I'm a big advocate of building your own temperature controller. I'm in the process of doing so myself, and it looks like the total amount is going to be around $75, with a very nice controller which lets me ramp up & down easily. I thought it was going to be a pretty difficult project since I've never worked with electrical equipment before, but once I actually did some reading it makes (enough) sense.

There's a very nice tutorial with wiring diagrams here (http://toblerglasscreations.com/fuji/), and Mark Wilson posted a tutorial on Wetcanvas (http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126999) for a simpler controller.

[Itzallmyne]

I agree with Alissa,

I bought the Aim 84BDkiln with Bartlett controller in Jan 2004. Well, the controller crapped out within about 7 months of getting it. It stopped ramping down slower than about 125' per hour. Ok for small Moretti beads, but bad for larger boro beads. I did figure a way to slowly ramp down, but it's a PITA. I just ordered another relay, and I'm in the process of learning about building my own controller from Mark Wilsons tut on Wet Canvas. I had read before buying a kiln that the controllers were known to crap out often. Funny thing about lampworking, it makes you become quite knowledgeable about things you never had any desire to learn about...like photography, building photo booths, marketing, ventilation, static pressures, relay switches, kiln controllers....

But, all in all, I do like my Aim kiln, keep your kiln and build the controller, Mark really goes into detail on how to do this, besides it only looks hard now, it's easy once you learn how. Good luck

Torch on!


Marilyn

[ShawnLynn]

WOW !!! I had no idea you could do that, now i have to admit that i did build my own photo box and am not afraid do build anything, so this shoud be interesting~~~Thanks sooo much

Lynn~~~~:waving: