Bartlett V6-CF 700 Control Manual

Introduction

     This manual covers the operation of the V6-CF series 700 kiln controller. The V6-CF is a versatile controller that regulates the temperature in your kiln so you can fire a variety of products like ceramics, glass, or jewelry. The experienced operator can go straight to the quick start guide. The novice can learn more about different types of firing by reading the programming sections of the manual. In the following pages:

• First Firing steps you through the initial firing for new kilns to "season" the elements.
• Controller Front Panel is a visual table-of-contents for the function of each key on the face-plate.
• Cone Fire is the quick, easy method of programming for ceramics.
• Vary Fire (also known as ramp-hold) is the versatile programming method for writing your own profiles for glass, jewelry and ceramics.

The other sections of the manual will answer questions about what to expect during a firing.

Precautions

The controller is used to control temperature, it is not a safety device.

Do not operate the controller in temperatures above 125 °F.

Never leave your kiln unattended at the end of a firing.

The controller contains electronic components which are sensitive to static electricity. Before handling the controller dissipate any static charge you may have by touching metal or a screw on the controller panel, the electrical box, the kiln lid, or some other grounded object.

Always check the position of the thermocouple probe before starting a firing. The current temperature displayed on the controller is measured at the end of the thermocouple.

Always review the current program before firing to ensure the correct profile is programmed.

Ensure the kiln and the areas around the kiln are clear of combustible material. See kiln manufacture's recommendation on required clearances.

Controller Front Panel

Quick Start

1. Read all precautions before using your controller.
2. Apply power to the kiln/controller
3. Clear the display and get to the idle mode by pressing ENTER.
4. Program the controller.
5. Review the program before firing to ensure the correct program is ready to fire.
6. Press Start. -On- will be displayed and then the kiln temperature. The relays and elements will be cycled on and off to regulate the temperature according to the program.
7. At the end of the firing the controller will flash the current temperature, firing time, and CPLt. Press ENTER to return to the IdLE state.

IMPORTANT PROGRAMMING NOTE: Before initiating a firing profile or performing any other function, the current temperature must be flashing. Pressing the "1" key will clear the display of errors ('Err') or 'FAIL'.

In most cases when programming, you will choose an option, then press "ENTER" to accept the option. After programming is complete press the "START/STOP" button to begin the firing.

With the display flashing 'IdLE' and the current temperature, you are ready to proceed to one of the programming sections.

The CONE FIRE mode uses Orton's patented method to achieve correct heat work so it is ideal for firing ceramics. The advantage of using the CONE FIRE method is that a very complicated firing profile may be chosen with just a few key strokes. The CONE FIRE method helps protect against over and under firing by carefully tracking and controlling the temperature at the end of the firing as the cone temperature is approached. The final temperature is adjusted according to the final firing rate. For example, as the heating elements age and the heating rate slows, the final temperature will be adjusted downward to ensure the correct amount of heat-work.

The VARY-FIRE mode can be used for ceramics, glass, jewelry, glazes, decals, etc. It allows you to create your own firing profiles which can be saved and used over and over.

Programming

1. CONE FIRE

The CONE FIRE mode allows you to fire to a cone number with one of four different speeds.

To use CONE FIRE:

1. Make sure the temperature is flashing. Pressing the "1" key will clear the display of errors (Err) or FAIL.
2. Press one of the 4 firing speed buttons (see Appendix A to see the ramp speeds)

    Slow Bisque - Used for setting a slow bisque firing profile.
            ** 13 hours to fire to cone 04. **

   Fast Bisque - Used for setting a fast bisque firing profile.
            ** 10 hours to fire to cone 04. **

   Slow Glaze - Used for setting a slow glaze firing profile.
            ** 7 hours to fire to cone 04. **

   Fast Glaze - Used for setting a fast glaze firing profile.
            ** 4 hours to fire to cone 04. **

3. Press ENTER.
4. Type the cone number you want (acceptable values are from .022 to 10).
   If you type a wrong number, press "0" 3 times or until all zeros appear in the display, press ENTER, then type the correct number (only three digits are displayed at this time)
5. Press ENTER.
6. Type the hold time at the end of the firing or leave at zero
7. Press ENTER. 'CPL' will be displayed briefly, then the current temperature will be flashing in the display.
8. Press START/STOP to begin firing.

NOTE: With any of the CONE FIRE modes, a preheat stage is available. During the preheat stage the temperature is increased at a rate of 60°F per hour until 200°F is reached; the 200° temperature is then held for the programmed amount of time. Preheat is automatically set to zero during cone fire programming and at the end of each firing, so if a preheat stage is wanted, it must be reprogrammed before each cone firing. See SECTION 4 - "OTHER" options for programming "Preheat".

CONE FIRE Example

Slow Bisque Firing, Pre-heat 1 hour, Cone 04, 10 minute Hold - Use the following steps for a bisque firing to cone 04, a 10 minute temperature hold at the peak temperature, and a preheat stage with 1 hour hold time.

2. VARY-FIRE

The V6-CF has 6 vary-fire user programs to store and reuse. Each program has from 1 to 8 segments (2 - 16 segments if 16-s option is on). Each segment has a firing rate, a soak temperature and a hold time. It is best to write out the firing profile that you plan to program before you begin programming. To ramp at the maximum rate either up or down, enter a rate of 9999. To program a down ramp, you enter the rate/hour then a temperature below the previous segment temperature.
NOTE: The first ramp rate of any user program

The following example is a two segment program stored in memory location "user 1".

VARY-FIRE Example
The following steps are used to program "user 1" program for the firing profile above.

RECALL PROGRAM is used to recall a previously programmed firing profile.
Example: To recall user program #5, use the following:

3. VIEW SECTION

View Section - Contains buttons to look up Cone Temperatures, Review programs, View current segment and Skip segments during firings.

The VIEW section allows you to view various information about cone temperatures, firings, and settings.

Cone Table - Used to look up the temperature of various cone numbers. The temperature which is displayed is for self-supporting cones with a heating rate of 108°F/hr. TO use, press "Cone Table", enter the cone number you want to look up, press "ENTER"; the cone temperature will be displayed followed by CPL.

Review Program - The information displayed when Review Program is pressed varies depending on whether you are using Cone Fire or Vary Fire. When Review Program is pressed, each of the steps in the current firing profile is displayed one after another changing every 1/2 second.

In Cone Fire Mode - The display will show the selected firing profile in the following order:

1. cone fire speed
2. preheat time (PrHt)
3. cone #(ConE)
4. cone temperature^* (°F)
5. hold time (HLd)
6. delay time (dELA)
7. alarm setting (ALAr)
8. error codes on/off (ErCd)
9. LAG setting (if zone control)

*After a firing is complete, the cone temperature (°F) will show the actual temperature reached during firing.

In Vary Fire Mode - The display will show in the following order:

1. the user program # (USEr)
2. the number of segments (SEG)
3. 1st ramp rate (rA 1)
4. 1st segment temperature (°F 1)
5. 1st hold time (HLd1)
   (If there is more than 1 segment, then the ramp rate, segment temperature, and hold time of each of the other segments will be displayed in order.)
6. delay time (dELA)
7. alarm setting (ALAr)
8. error codes on/off (ErCd)
9. LAG setting if zone control

View Segment - only functions when a firing is in progress. View segment is used to view the current firing segment or to skip from the current segment to the next firing ramp. When View Segment is pressed during a firing the current segment of the firing, the travelling set-point and the circuit board temperature are displayed. If it is pressed during IdLE, StOP is displayed then the current temperature.
Skip Step (SStp) - Skip Step (Skip Step) is included in View Segment. The skip step feature is only available in a VARY-FIRE firing profile. It is used when enough heat work has been done at the current segment and you want to immediately go the next ramp rate. To skip to the next ramp, press View Segment, then within 1/2 second, press ENTER, and ENTER a second time. If you press View Segment and do not press ENTER within 1/2 second, the current segment (e. g., rA 1) will continue to be displayed. Simply wait until the temperature is again displayed and press View Segment, then ENTER within 1/2 second, and ENTER again. If you press View Segment, then ENTER, then decide not to skip to the next ramp stage, simply do not press any key; after about 10 seconds the display will return to the current temperature.

4. OPTIONS SECTION

Delay - This key is used to delay the start of a firing.

Example: Program a one hour delay to the start of a firing.
Remember: the temperature must be flashing before beginning to program.

Alarm - This key is used to set the high or low temperature alarm. The alarm may be set before or during a firing. When the alarm temperature is reached, a buzzer will sound.

Example: Before the start of a firing, set the alarm temperature to go off at 200°F.
Remember: the temperature must be flashing before beginning to program.

Other - There are nine "Other" options. Pressing "Other" will continue to cycle through the options available, Rset (reset), PrHt (Preheat), Id (identification), 16-S (16 segment), CnoS (Cone Offset) , CHG° (Change °F to °C), ErCd (Error Codes), tcoS (thermocouple offset), bd t (board temperature), and LAG (LAG setting).
NOTE: PrHt (Preheat) will not appear in this menu unless a CONE FIRE mode has been selected. 16-S will not appear unless User 5 is the selected program.

Id (identification #) - Used by KISS (Kiln Interface Software System) to identify the kiln when hooked to a personal computer. This is covered in a separate KISS manual.

16-S (16 segment program) - This option allows vary-fire programs 5 and 6 to be combined into a 16 segment program. It only shows in the menu when user 5 is programmed and selected. When using this option, user 5 and 6 can have 1 to 8 segments. First, program user 5 then user 6. Next, recall user 5 and then use the "OTHER" key to display '16-S'. Press "ENTER" to accept the option. Press "1" until the display shows 'On'. Press "ENTER" to activate the 16 segment option. Press "START" and the controller will fire user 5 until complete and then will fire user 6.
NOTE: The first segment of user 6 must be an up ramp or the segment will be skipped.

The cone-fire to ramp-hold feature allows for the firing of a cone-fire program automatically followed by the User #6 ramp-hold (vary-fire) program. Turning on the 16-segement (16-S) option after programming the cone-fire program activates this feature.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The controller uses the first segment of User 6 to transition from the cone fire program so the controller ignores the first segment. This means when you program, the number of segments you enter must be 1 greater than the actual number of segments you need. In other words, start the actual programming with segment number 2. The controller will ignore any information you enter into segment 1.

Press "Enter Prog" button. Press "6" and then press "ENTER" to program User 6 with desired program.
Segment 1 of User 6 is utilized by the controller and connot be used for your program. Therefore the number of segments will need to be one greater than the number used for programming. When the display showr 'ra 1' press "ENTER", "ENTER", "ENTER" to begin programming segment 2. After User 6 is programmed, press the desired Speed button (S-BC, F-BC, S-GL, or F-GL) in the Cone Fire options. Enter desired Cone-Fire program. Press the "Other" button until '16-S' appears and press "ENTER". The display will flash between '16-S' and the current setting, either 'On' or 'OFF'. Press the "1" key until the desired option is diplayed. Pressing "ENTER" when 'On' is displayed will allow Cone-Fire to flow into Ramp-Hold User 6 and 'OFF' will disable this option, meaning only the cone-fire program will fire. Press the "ENTER" button. Programming is now complete. If 16-segment is on then the controller will perform the Cone-Fire program and upon finishing it will run the Ramp-Hold User 6 program.
NOTE: 16-S will appear in "REVIEW PROGRAM" if it is turned on.

 

CnoS (Cone Offset) - Used to raise or lower the final cone temperature. The final cone temperature can be raised or lowered a maximum of 50°F (28°C).
 

When entering the offset temperature the following convention is used: the left two digits designate whether to raise (00) or lower (90) the cone temperature, that is, '00' means plus (+) and '90' means minus (-). The right two digits are the number of degrees the cone temperature will be raised or lowered.

 

tCoS (Thermocouple Offset) - Used to raise or lower the temperature indicated by the thermocouples. The maximum offset is 50°F (28°C). A positive offset is entered with 00 preceding the amount of offset and a negative offset is preceded by 90. This is the same as is done for entering cone offsets. A negative offset will lower the indicated temperature reading and cause more heat-work. When tCoS is displayed, press ENTER and the current offset for the thermocouple will be displayed. Press ENTER when the correct offset is displayed.

The following apply to T/C offsets:

• The final temperature is affected for all CONE FIRE and all VARY-FIRE programs.
• The thermocouple offset will remain for that T/C until it is changed again.
• Typing 00 (before the desired offset temperature) will raise the indicated temperature but it will lower the actual temperature in the kiln and LOWER the amount of heat work.
• Typing 90 (before the desired offset temperature) will lower the indicated temperature but it will increase the actual temperature in the kiln and INCREASE the amount of heat work.
• The maximum number of degrees that can be raised or lowered is 50°F (28°C).

1. FEATURES AND ENHANCEMENTS

• 3 separately controlled zones (3 t/c inputs, 3 outputs)
• Adjustable offsets for each thermocouple (t/c)
• Continues to fire with 1 or 2 failed thermocouples (t/c's)
• Slow ramping when any zone lags the set-point
• Reset function which zeros the t/c offsets, turns the errors on, and sets the lag to 13 degrees

2. GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The V6-CF advanced 3-zone control system is programmed the same as the single zone control but it has new features to ensure even firing from the top to the bottom of the kiln. A 3-zone control has 3 temperature sensor inputs (thermocouples) and 3 independent outputs so the kiln can have 3 separately controlled sections (zones). The controller senses the temperature in each section of the kiln, compares the temperature to the desired temperature (traveling set-point) and adjusts the power going to each section separately giving each just the right amount of power to keep the temperature at the correct setting. The single zone controller only measures the temperature at the center of the kiln and gives all sections the same amount of power.

3. AUTOMATIC LAG FUNCTION

Lag refers to when the temperature of a kiln's section "lags" behind the traveling set point because the programmed ramp rate is faster than the kiln's temperature can rise. The V6-CF series 700 will slow the ramp rate when a section of the kiln lags. The ramp rate determines the amount of "lagging" that is allowed before the firing rate is slowed. Fast ramp rates (>500 °F/hr) will allow the greatest temperature difference between sections. Slow ramp rates (<70 °F/hr) will have the smallest temperature difference between sections. Therefore, when the controller is programmed to go fast it will sacrifice evenness to obtain speed. Likewise, when the controller is programmed to go slow, the controller will maintain tighter control. The controller will try to balance speed and tight control when a medium speed is programmed.

4. THERMOCOUPLE OFFSETS (see Cone offsets and T/C offsets in the OPTIONS SECTION for more information)

5. THREE THERMOCOUPLES

Besides better measuring of the temperature, the zone control also offers security through its three thermocouples. With a single zone controller, a firing will be stopped if the thermocouple (t/c) fails. The zone control with 3 t/c's, will continue to fire if one or two of its thermocouples fail during a firing. If the top or bottom thermocouple fails, that section will be controlled by the middle t/c. If the middle thermocouple fails the middle section will be controlled by the top t/c. If the controller is at "IdLE" and a t/c fails, the display will alternate between FAIL and the number of the failed t/c (1,2,3). The temperature of each zone can be viewed. The temperature will alternately flash with the currently selected zone. To select zone 1, press the "1" key and TC 1 will alternate with the current zone 1 temperature. For zone 2 press the "2" key, for zone 3 press the "3" key.

Q.  During programming of a firing, I typed a wrong number. How do I correct this?

A.   Before pressing ENTER, enter zero until all zeros are displayed, then enter the correct number. If you have already pressed ENTER, you must press enter to progress through to the end of the program then start the program again.

Q.  How do I clear the "PF" from the display?

A.  Press the "1" key. After several seconds the current temperature will be displayed. Several other numbers or STOP may be displayed before the current temperature.

Q.  What does it mean when "FAIL" is displayed?

A.   Most likely the t/c (thermocouple) is defective. See P. 18 ("bd T", board temperature) to determine if the t/c or circuit board is at fault. If the t/c is faulty, it may actually be poor connections on any extension wire rather than the t/c itself. For type K thermocouples check all connections and ensure that yellow wires are connected to yellow wires and red to red all the way from the circuit board to the t/c in the kiln. It is a good idea to loosen the screw connections and then retighten them to break any oxide that may have built up. When connecting the thermocouple, connect the RED wire to the connector with RED dot and connect the YELLOW wire to the connector with the "+". On type "K" thermocouples, the RED wire is always negative, and the YELLOW wire is positive. On type "S" thermocouples the RED wire is negative and the BLACK wire is positive.

Q.  How can I find out the final temperature that was reached during a cone firing?

A.   At the end of a cone fire, the firing time and CPLt will be flashing alternately in the display. Press "STOP". Then press "Review Program", the final temperature will display after oF. This final temperature will be retained until the next firing or until the controller is reprogrammed or turned off..

Q.  What is a segment?

A. A segment is the basic building block of a program either in cone-fire or vary-fire (ramp/hold). Each segment consists of a ramp rate in degrees per hour, a temperature you want to achieve, and whether you want to hold there or not. For example, a program for drying ware going at 60o/hour to 200oF and holding for 2 hours would be a one segment firing, the ramp is 60, the temperature is 200, and the hold is 2.00.

Q.  Do I need to use witness cones for each firing?

A. After checking your kiln with witness cones for the first few firings, if you are satisfied with the results you are getting and how even the kiln is from top to bottom then you do not need to use cones in each firing. It is a good practice to periodically place witness cones in the kiln to check for proper firing. If you suspect a problem or your results have changed then it is a good idea to check the operation of the kiln with witness cones.