What to do with a piece of _____ furnace

[Geoff Lee]

So after 2 years of dealing with a under performing EZtherm furnace that has given me nothing but problems, I am upgrading to a Stadelmann.

Chances are there is no one here on Hawaii who wants this piece of sh*t and I seriously doubt anyone on the mainland would want to pay the shipping charges. So besides taking it out back and shooting it, I want to offer Craftweb members some of the working parts first. I already have extras and will not need them for the new furnace.

Here is what I believe is worth getting:

1 - Watlow LimitSD controller
1 - Watlow Series 981/982 controller
2 - Type R Thermocouples (can be re-furbished at Grant Edgel for $90)

Other than that, the rest is pretty much sh*t. I'm going to ask the crack-heads down the street where I can sell copper wire.

So if anyone is interested in these parts, it will be a little while, but wanted to make the offer now.

Aloha,
Geoff Lee
808-263-4527
islandglassworks@gmail.com

[Doug Chaussee]

Geoff, Check your email! Thanks

[Garner Britt]

I'll take the power supply (welder)....

What is the problem with these furnaces? The shop I helped set up in Oregon bought a used one with 2 months use. It was great for about a year. After I left they were calling me every month or so with problems. They now refer to it as the "Hassle-Therm" They are going to Stadelmann as soon as they can afford it.

It seemed to me that the overall design, castings, insulation etc was great it was a constant battle with the electronics/power supply system.

I wonder if Steve could provide his style of power supply to allow a retro-fit? Might be a cost effective solution.

garner

[Rob White]

You might be able to sell it as a fancy pottery kiln...

[Pete VanderLaan]

Originally posted by Garner Britt
I'll take the power supply (welder)....


I wonder if Steve could provide his style of power supply to allow a retro-fit? Might be a cost effective solution.

garner
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There are other fundamental problems with the furnace that would suggest that this approach won't work out. It's all very unfortunate.

[Greg Vriethoff]

Don't take it out back and shoot it. That would be a waste of a bullet.

Take it out back and turn it into a planter box.

Or set it afloat on a raft in the Pacific and give it a Viking funeral.

(Yes, I have EZ Therm experience)

[Geoff Lee]

Having Steve do an alternative power supply is not a financially smart decision. In my opinion it would pretty much be akin to gold-plating shit. 24k gold, but still shit. Poor design, poor performance, nothing would really help this furnace.

My own fault for buying one, but a furnace should last more than 2 years.

[R. Scott Johnson]

is eztherm the same people as electroglass or denverglass?

[Geoff Lee]

No, EZtherm was a Henry Halem/Mark Jessen project

[Doug Sweet]

Well you could do what I did and gut the entire insides and rebuild the thing.I went with eztherm because it was local and was saving on shipping.and I didn't want to build a furnace. I'm only OK at building. I did not realize a welder is not the same as a transformer. Eztherm also forgot about keep it simple stupid. I don't believe the furnace was ever road tested before being marketed.For anyone that has one, I have found that having a large fan cooling the welder is helpful. So far mine is still functioning. But it does have the proper molys from Steve.

ps Where is Henry? did he get thrown off the board? too much brisket?

[Brian Gingras]

I think the mention of EZtherm send him running to hide :)

[Pete VanderLaan]

Originally posted by Doug Sweet

.

ps Where is Henry? did he get thrown off the board? too much brisket?

I have not seen Henry about since the flair up with various apologists for GAS goals and values back in June. I don't know if the two things are connected. I do take note that all of those folks have drifted off and are normal non contributors. This is certainly the first time I have seen people go public with their issues over EZ Therm but I have expected it for a long time. I have never tried to control it.

[Geoff Lee]

I think the biggest lesson to be learned from all of this is DO YOUR RESEARCH. I thought I had done enough, but apparently not. In my own defense, I felt my timing was off. I didn't know who Stadelmann was at the time, and the folks I spoke to who owned EZTherms weren't having any serious problems. It wasn't until 6 months after I turned on that I had problems.

To those on this board who are even thinking of starting their own studio, build or buy the best furnace you can afford. There is no worse feeling than opening your studio each morning hoping your furnace didn't turn itself off or staring at something you wish you never had bought.

My opinion now is that if I see/hear more than one negative review about equipment from people I respect, I'm staying as far away from it as possible.

[Pete VanderLaan]

Originally posted by Geoff Lee

My opinion now is that if I see/hear more than one negative review about equipment from people I respect, I'm staying as far away from it as possible.
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And that in a nutshell is why boards like this are so valuable. Large organizations are never going to review such products because it ruffles too many feathers. It was central to my problem with GAS.

While I would confess that in this instance I was never going to bring the subject of EZ Therm up myself because of my friendship with Henry , I was never going to try to stifle criticism of the things. It simply never came up. So many people who bought them were unwilling to be critical publicly that they did continue to sell some. Very few are running now and if the welder hasn't failed yet, it will.

At the time, 2001, Steve was relatively unknown but was brought into the public eye with a very professional presentation on electric furnaces at Seattle GAS in the technical resources programs that I organized. I went to Steve to work out the design for my own Moly and was completely impressed with his understanding of the technology. What he didn't completely get at the time was how a furnace best functions from the point of view of the floor worker. I believe that is pretty well resolved at this point. I do not know of a single unhappy camper who owns a Stadelman. I cannot say that about ANY other furnace manufacturer.

The EZ therm was a product brought to market way too quickly. It was marketed in Seattle as a styrofoam box, not a furnace. There should have been red flags right there. It ideally needed at least two years in testing and it never got it. If it had been tested, and advice had been taken from many quarters , it might have suceeded, but the bright lights of market sucess staunched the demands for field tests of a serious duration . From the pressed fiber crowns to the Miller welders, it was a brush job at best. It's a major embarrassment and sadly for some buyers , a very big financial loss.

Now we have to state that it's just our opinion when we say something is worthless. The Chinese cullet was a great example of that. Katie and I were both being threatened by lawyers for simply stating the naked truth. So, Katie and I need you folks to keep calling a spade a spade.

Just my opinion of course.

[Greg Vriethoff]

Even though I stand by my smart aleck comments above, I won't go into detail about my experience. I did not own an EZ therm, but I was witness to the entire process of procuring, assembling and running one until its demise approximately six months later. Since it was not my personal business I feel it would be inappropriate to express my feelings about the situation.

Like Pete said, the whole thing is unfortunate.

The good thing is that no one is in danger of buying a new one, and any that are out there won't last long enough for a secondary market.

[Jim Vormelker]

The value of discussion board vis a vis traditional 'trade paper' magazines recently demonstrated the other side of this coin.

PMC - Precious Metal Clay has taken the jewelry-making world by storm. Name says it. Shape the piece with this clay, fire it, and you have jewelry. No wax, no casting, no clean up. Makes the medium affordable to many with no money or space for the older style studios.

It has a caveat - the metal is Fine Silver, not Sterling. As a result, it is way soft for rings.

A member of one of the more prominent jewelry magazines said as much in an article. The magazine's primary advertiser is the company that markets the primary PMC product.

Now he needs a new job.


What I respect is the fine line Pete has had to walk between friendship and his understanding of a friend's effort. I don't know many who would try. It is another part of what makes this board work.

[Pete VanderLaan]

My understanding is that the electrical component of the design is still in fact being marketed. I do not know if it has been reworked. It would certainly need it in my opinion. Henry has nothing to do with it at this point.

[Doug Sweet]

All I can say is a must be a lucky guy on some level. My miller welder eztherm power supply is still functioning. Please pray to your gods that it does not break. I can't afford a new power source or furnace now.

[Pete VanderLaan]

There was one available from Cal State fullerton which I beleive was still working when they pulled the plug on their EZ Therm last year. Univ of Wisconsin may have some too.

[Scott Dunahee]

The last I heard, the UW Madison hot shop is still running 2 EZtherms. My info is at least 6 months old. Student glassworkers don't come visit me much, they like to stay on campus.

BSD

[Geoff Lee]

My welder crapped out on me twice, luckily it was still under warranty from Miller and was fixed pretty quickly. The warranty just expired and my new furnace should be showing up at the end of November. I'm hoping to last that long. Wish me luck, I feel like I'm on borrowed time here.

To all the EzTherm owners out there, how about a big party here in Hawaii where we just blow the thing up. You can write the trip off as "research" ;)

Free place to stay at my house, just have to deal with 3 crazy dogs

[Greg Vriethoff]

The welder on the one at CSU Fullerton was having problems when it was turned off for good. It could only get up to about 1900 degrees.

[Jay Holden]

If the power supply (welder) to the EZTherm is the culprit why not just replace it with a transformer and be done with it? Or am I missing something?
Jay.

[Pete VanderLaan]

It's only a piece of a larger puzzle Jay. Go back and read Doug Sweets' assessment. I'll let others elaborate.

[Pete VanderLaan]

Originally posted by Scott Dunahee
The last I heard, the UW Madison hot shop is still running 2 EZtherms. My info is at least 6 months old. Student glassworkers don't come visit me much, they like to stay on campus.

BSD
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My impression talking to Fritz Schomberg, the grad assistant there was that there were significant problems. I certainly could be wrong.