The King of Controls - RampMaster II Control

Performance Details:

Ramp Mode Programming

Develop your own firing programs using the Ramp Mode Programming Feature. You determine How Fast, to What Temp and for How Long. The RampMaster II gives you this power and more. Program the perfect fusing and annealing profile or that one-of-a-kind specialty glaze firing using the Ramp Mode Programming feature. This is absolutely perfect for glass firing.

Ramp Mode Programming offers six individual programs, the contents of which, are defined by you, the user. Each of the six programs allows for up to eight firing segments. A segment is simply a grouping of: rate of temperature increase or decrease, a set point temperature and soak, if desired. So, get busy and develop that special firing program. The RampMaster II can do the work!!

Glass artists are welcome to visit our Technical Section for detailed glass firing information. This data is an excellent resource for use in developing your individual firing programs. It should be noted that the RampMaster II does not contain pre-programmed or pre-set glass firing programs. Glass firing is a process that requires your attention and understanding, pre-set programs promote neither.

"On-the-Fly" Skip Ahead

It's not uncommon when firing to want to stop what's currently happening and move ahead to the next programmed step. Ending a fusing or slumping operation because "it's just right" and moving to the anneal portion of the program immediately comes to mind. Of course, it's also nice if moving ahead was easy and didn't require a bunch of re-programming. The RampMaster II allows for this type of action, on-the-fly. A couple of keystrokes during operation will take the firing to the next segment. It's that easy. No stopping, no fumbling, just success.

"On-the-Fly" Temperature Pause

For those moments when you need a little more time, or a little more heatwork, we offer the Temperature Pause. Simply press the Pause Key and the currently displayed temperature is held for up to 30 minutes. Pause can be turned off at any time by pressing the Pause key again. Use this feature to add time to your programmed hold times. Use it to hold the temperature during a ramping operation (yes, a ramping operation!). Use it to add heatwork (time/temp) which moves your glass slower and easier than just increasing the temperature. The Pause is going to be a good friend of yours. It's simple, effective and so easy to use.

"On-the-Fly" Power Tame

Typically, automatic controls treat all heating elements the same: all on, all off, repeat. While this is nice, sometimes it's best to tame down or reduce the power of some heating elements. The RampMaster II offers a feature we term "Power Tame" which does just this. Adjusting the Power Tame reduces the percentage of time that the lid heating elements are on while not affecting the sidewall heating elements. The Power Tame is indeed adjustable "On-the-Fly". This feature comes in handy when slumping, particularly large slumping projects. Flexibility at the touch of a key. Note: The Power Tame feature is not functional on kilns with lid elements only or RampMaster II Wall Mount Controls.

"On-the-Fly" Alarm

During firing it always nice to know when you're reaching a certain temperature. You can sit and watch but you have better things to do. With the RampMaster II you can set the Alarm to beep at any temperature you want. Simply set it. Once the kiln has reached the Alarm temperature it beeps. Pretty simple! If you've ever missed a setpoint or blew the chance to modify a firing because you didn't know it was time you'll see the value in this feature. We recommend setting the alarm to a temperature that will alert you to the fact that "your almost there". This gives you time to look, adjust, play and modify to your hearts content. One other thing, you can set the alarm at any time you wish to any temperature you wish, over and over again during a firing. Very cool stuff.

"On-the-Fly" Firing Data

When firing, the RampMaster II displays the current chamber temperature or remaining hold time values. Other information such as current segment in use or reviewing the complete program is also possible to view while running a program. While firing, simply press the View Seg key to see what segment is currently being run. To view the entire programmed firing simply press Review Prog and the entire program is automatically displayed.

"Back-Up" Feature

When programming it's sometimes necessary to back-up and change previously entered firing data. You know how it goes: your halfway finished programming and decide that the hold time you programmed on the first segment isn't right, or you want to bump up a set point temperature or rate that you've already entered. When this happens (and it will) you can simply "back-up" to the firing data you want to change using a single key. Once you've made the change just continue programming as usual. You'll get to know this feature, it comes in handy and saves time.

Cone Fire Mode

The Ceramic, Pottery and Porcelain artists among you know that today's bisque and glaze firings have changed. Gone are the days when "close enough is good enough". With the advent of new lead free glazes and closer tolerance clays, the "close enough" game doesn't work! We must now, more than ever, consider the glaze/clay body fit or compatibility. For successful firing, modern ceramic ware requires attention to temperature rates, changes in rates during the firing, as well as the final cone number.

The RampMaster II takes these considerations into account by offering four, pre-set firing programs: Fast Bisque (13 hours), Slow Bisque (10 hours), Fast Glaze (7 hours) and Slow Glaze (4 hours). Through the use of multiple temperature rate changes and temperature set points during the firing, each program is tailored to meet the needs of modern ceramic ware.

Delay Start

Delay the actual start time of the firing using the Delay Start feature. This is great when electrical rates are lower at different times of the day or when it's just too darn hot to fire an extra kiln. Use your head here, folks. Evenheat recommends (and logic dictates) that you monitor a kiln during a firing. Things happen and it's best to know what your kiln's doing.

Fahrenheit and Centigrade

Whether you prefer Fahrenheit or Centigrade, the RampMaster II has you covered. Changing between the two scales is fairly easy via the keypad. However, we haven't made it so easy where it can be changed by accident. Take your pick.

Cone Table

Curious to know the equivalent cone temperature? Use the cone table to look up temperature equivalents of cones 022 through 10. (108°F table).

Large LED Display

The term LED means "Light Emitting Diode" in tech talk. For everyone else it means lights and in this case the lighted display that indicates temperatures, times, etc.. The RampMaster II is equipped with a large, 4 character display that can easily be seen from a distance. It's also well lit which means it can be seen in relatively bright conditions.

Advanced Features

Buried deep within the RampMaster II is a menu of advanced features. These include pre-heat's, ID numbers for PC connections, extending the number of segments available to 16, offsetting cone fire values, error code enabling, offsetting thermocouples as well as physical temperature of the electronic board.

Personal Computer Connectivity

Special, optional software/hardware packages are available that allow the RampMaster II to be connected directly to your PC. This software allows you to program, monitor, graph and control your kilns via your PC. The software packages are known as KISS (Kiln Interface Software System). The KISS Starter Kit (SM-1) is needed to connect the first or initial kiln to your PC while the KISS Kiln Kits (KM-1) are used to connect additional kilns to your, now established, KISS network.

Thermocouple

The RampMaster II uses a type K thermocouple.