Firing Schedules/Programs; Flow Diagram For Program Selection; Programming Heating And Cooling Rate; Programming Heating Or Cooling Temperatures - Orton autofire express Instruction Manual

FE # -
Fatal software Errors, FE Alarms indicate a hardware failure or
software problem with the controller. These alarms will disable the normal
controller operation and require corrective action. If a Fatal Error occurs during
an active firing, the firing is terminated. These alarms include;
FE 1 – Failed to read or write to memory device
FE 2 – Failed memory test during power on
FE 3 – Corrupt data found in memory
FE 4 – Errors detecting thermocouple input signal
FE 5 – Software Execution failed
Turn the controller off and back on, then press any button to try and clear the
alarm. If the alarm reoccurs immediately or frequently, the controller may
require service or replacement.

Firing Schedules/Programs

You can store/save up to 9 separate firing programs in the controller
memory. Each program can be up to 8 Steps long. During programming the
display prompts for the individual firing schedules are PrO followed by the
program number like PrO1, PrO2, PrO3, etc...
If your controller does not allow for 9 programs, it has been factory set by the
supplier for a limiting number of programs. This is often necessary for special
applications.
To select any of the available programs, first press the Program button when
the display shows IdLE. The last used program will be the first choice on the
controller display. If a different program is desired, press the Increase button
to select another program. Then press the Program button again when the
displays shows the program code you want.

Flow Diagram for Program Selection

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A complete firing schedule can be multiple heating and/or cooling
steps. However, for many applications a single step is all that is
required. The maximum number of program steps is limited to 8.

Programming Heating and Cooling Rate

Each step of a firing program must have a programmed Rate of temperature
increase or decrease. This is the speed of the heat-up or cool-down. These
rate values are selected as Degrees per Hour. 'Degrees per hour' rate can be
determined by dividing the total amount of temperature change by the number
of hours required to achieve the temperature change. For Example, If you
want to heat the kiln to 900°F from room temperature (72°F) in 2 hours time.
The heating rate would be 414 Degrees/hour. [900-72 = 828, 828/2 = 414]
During programming the display prompts for all Rate settings are
rA followed by the step number like rA 1, rA 2, rA 3, etc...
The values available for setting Rate are 0 -1798°F/hour or 0-998°C/hour. If
it's desired to heat or cool as fast as possible, an alternative setting is
available at the beginning or end of the temperature range. This setting
appears as FULL on the controller display.
Entering Zero for a heating or cooling rate
The controller determines where your firing program ends by the rA value. If
zero is set for any Rate, this tells the controller that there are no more steps to
your firing schedule. If additional steps had previously been saved in the
active program, all steps after the zero entry will be erased. This feature can
also be used to erase an entire firing program by setting the first rA 1 value to
zero.

Programming Heating or Cooling Temperatures

Each step of a firing program must have a programmed heating or cooling
temperature. The controller must have at least one heating step to accept the
firing program as valid (an invalid program results in a bAdP display alarm).
A heating step is simply any step with a temperature setting that is above the
current display temperature.
Cooling steps are automatically determined by the temperature value. If a
heating or cooling temperature value is programmed to a lower setting than
the previous heating or cooling temperature, it will be a cooling step.
During programming the display prompts for all Heating or Cooling
Temperature settings is °F (or °C) followed by the step number like
°F 1, °F 2, °F 3, etc...
The temperature range available for setting heating or cooling temperatures is
32-2400°F or 0-1316°C. If the controller does not allow you to program
temperatures up to 2400°F/1316°C, it has been factory set by the supplier to a
lower safety temperature. This is often necessary to limit the controller to the
maximum operating temperature of the system.
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