When I installed my Nyle L-53 I put the wet bulb in exactly as the manual shows which is about 1" above the black water cap. The wb sometimes dried out towards the end of the run. Than I added additional fans and air direction baffles which made the problem worse. To fix, I added a little baffle close to the wb and put tubing on the wick. Not a lot of improvement. Than I read in threads here one should have full air flow on the wet bulb to get the most accurate reading.
Here is the fix that actually works. I moved the wb probe down to about the middle of the bottle. I also added the vinyl tubing over the probe. Full air flow and I'm on the second load without it drying out.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10125/IMG_4695.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=354379)
Thanks to all the members who commented in previous threads about the wet bulb. I would probably still be floundering if not for those posts.
Larry
You have too much wick out of the bottle, you only want a couples of inches exposed. Use this Link for the latest L53 manual and go to page 17. That is how it should be setup.
https://www.nyledrykilns.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/NDK-L53-Manual-Rev-2023.02.pdf
That picture is exactly how I had it set up and it was drying out. The wet bulb was about a inch above the black cap so I had a inch of wick on the wet bulb and a inch to the cap.
Larry - I have also struggled with getting the position of the wet bulb just right to get accurate readings. I spent a few hours working on it and never could get it perfect. My wet bulb is off by 0.5 to 1% EMC just depending on the conditions. I would really like to see Nyle move away from using a wet bulb. It just seems too finicky. Maybe electronic sensors have other problems, I don't know, but it would be nice to get away from filling the tank and cutting the wick every few days.
Then the problem you both have is too much air hitting the wick. With the kiln closed and fans running check for a strong flow of air and where it is coming from. Don't block off all air getting to the wet bulb but just the strongest airflow. That should cure your problem.
If the wick is covered by the tube, it should not matter how long it is, as far as drying out (with in reason).
You could avoid filling the bottle every day if you have a float valve on a water line to the bottle.
The wick will get crusty only if the water has high minerals.
You don't want the wet bulb covered fully as it needs to get an ambient reading.
You mean to not cover the wick where it covers the bulb right? seems like a good solution to keep water from evaporating from the yet unused portion of the wick.
You need a certain amount of air going over it to read properly but not so much that the wick dries out. Part of the problem is the narrowness of the wick and the limited water supply
Customers with bigger kilns use trays with water supplied using a float vale and a sleeve type wick that can take more airflow without drying out the wick.
yes Stan but your comment would mean that Larry's set up it ok as it leaves the wick over the blub uncovered, correct?
Yes but block the strongest airflow hitting it because it is drying the wick out prematurely.
I only have to fill my bottle at the beginning of each kiln cycle and normally it is half full to begin with. Like Stan said you must have too much air flow over the bulb.