Temperature Controlled Auto Damper

I have two small electric top loading kilns. During firing I normally leave open some of the venting peepholes to allow fumes and moisture to escape from the kiln,

So I decided it would be better if I could automate the top peephole bung to stay open until a desired temperature is reached then the venting hole automatically closes

I used a small 12 V motor which as a small gear mechanism and a small cog and chain which is attached to a small shaft, the motor turns then as stopped by a microswitch the opening and closing height is controlled by a small can

The motor has got a heat shield surrounding it and the shafts have a silicon heat shield which also protects it from pollution

from the kiln

Attached to the automatic damper is a temperature control the control allows you to manually move the damper up and down

which allows you to get the optimum clearance from the vent hole

When the clearance is set the programmer goes into automatic mode which is controlled by a small toggle switch

The damper itself is made from a ceramic tile which is connected to a small kiln prop which is the chain mounted inside

The Kiln automatic damper can be easily picked up and moved over to my other kiln as I've made this so it's portable