I found your anagama pages very interesting to the point of wanting to try it myself.

However, one thing you mention regarding the kiln temperature not corresponding to the thermocouple readings (I think it was under the sixth firing pages) caught my attention. You mentioned the weather was warmer but you were having trouble reaching the same readings as on earlier firings.

As you know the resistance of the wire leads to the thermocouple affects the output, where the longer the lead is the greater the resistance in direct proportion. Another important factor whereby the leads will affect the reading is the temperature. The warmer a conductor is the more resistance it has to electrical current. If the leads are of significant length their temperature will affect the reading I imagine.

There may be a simple solution, however. If you solder a third lead to one of the legs of the thermocouple and use this with the other lead on the same leg to first get a ‘baseline’ reading you can subtract this interference from your measurements.

You will have to re-evaluate your target impedence for the future, of course, since you aren’t converting to temperature.

Yours,

C.

Thanks for a great website. I truly enjoy the podcasts. Keep up the good work.

Stuart Buss
Perth
Western Australia