Two standalone electric wall-mount kiln controllers. But they are very different.

Tuesday 19th May 2015

The red controller on the right is a Skutt Kilnmaster, the blue controller to the left is an Orton Autofire. As of 2022 both of these are now ancient devices, having been replaced with newer touch panel units. The principle of operation for both is the same: They turn the power on and off in a duty cycle to control temperature rise. A 50% duty cycle, for example, sees the power on for 50% of the time. The length of individual bursts increases with kiln temperature. The controllers monitor a insight-live.com/picture/3125">thermocouple in the kiln to determine the length and frequency of power bursts needed. Both of these devices are external to the kilns (but there is a big difference). The KilnMaster controller is attached to the 220V power line and the kiln power line attaches to it (there are heavy-duty electrical relays inside). The blue Autofire controller does not have internal heavy-duty relays or switches, they are in the kiln. The KilnMaster is thus more flexible since it can connect to any kiln, but it is also triple the price. In 2022 the AutoFire now has its own relays like the KilnMaster.

Pages that reference this post in the Digitalfire Reference Library:

Kiln Controller, Test Kiln, Kiln Firing

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