We recently bought the OV301 curing oven for use in our lab as an infusion oven.
Trying to install today, but we have encountered several problems. First of all, the accompanying manual is very unclear. Basically, we are not able to set the oven to a fixed temperature, no matter what we try. Following the instructions in the manual results in different outcomes than described in the manual itself.... Furthermore, the oven displays all kinds of messages (abbreviations since there are only a few digits) when pressing buttons, but nowhere there is an overview of what each message/abbreviation actually means. It even seems that some messages are not even how they should be, e.g. our oven displays "CnPt" instead of "InPt" (input).

Could you provide a schematic overview of the oven controls?
At least, we would be able to see then "where" we are in the menu. This would make it a lot easier to navigate the controls on the oven.
Hopefully, we'll be able to set the oven then to the single temperature mode (which currently does not work).

I can also not find a digital copy of the manual on your site, maybe this can be a good addition so that people are not dependent on one hardcopy which will eventually be outdated.

Our alarm light also seems to be on all the time. Sometimes there is a very annoying and loud sound (the oven itself is not warming up, still at ambient temperature, so the alarm is not related to any temperature overshoot). Nowhere in the manual can I find how to turn off the alarm (or at least the sound).

Thanks for your prompt and detailed response Stacey!

We have managed to use the oven as described in your steps (which corresponds to the instructions in the manual). We were indeed "lost" in the menus, but advancing (using the X button) or restarting did not help to return back to the "home" position. We think we perhaps changed the input at some point in the menus (using the arrow buttons) , and have reset them. Since then, the single programming mode works as it should, reaches the set point temperature without problems and stays stable.

I will e-mail you for a digital copy of the manual of our oven. 

Glad to help.

Good luck with your projects.

Stacy, we have run into a new problem with the curing oven. Today we wanted to perform a curing of a laminate at 180°C, so well below the max. allowed temperature of 200°C. However, during heating the thermal fuse broke.
We were present during heating, and the display on the oven did not reach the 180°C yet. So we are quite puzzled that the thermal fuse broke already at more than 40°C under its limit. We shall put a new fuse in, but how can we avoid this problem in the future? Was it a bad fuse, or are the thermocouples not calibrated?

Hi,

Having just spoken to our sales department, I believe a replacement as well as some spare thermal fuses are already on there way to you. Please refer to the manual for details on replacing it, but should you have any problems, please ask.

Every oven we sell goes through a detailed testing procedure before it leaves us. This procedure includes a control check at several temperatures, one of which is 200°C (Maximum). The thermocouples arrive to us factory calibrated, the oven is then performance checked as part of the testing procedure using a calibrated secondary multipoint temperature measurement system. Your oven did pass all these tests without problem.

The thermal fuse itself is designed with a fail-temperature of 228°C +/- 10°C. As the oven has been successfully tested it is likely that the failure is due to the fuse actually seeing the fail-temperature locally. The design and positioning of the thermal fuse is deliberately intended to pick up on many problems that cause cause damage to the oven beyond that of a simple over temperature situation within the oven.

Airflow restrictions can adversely affect the consistency of the temperature within the oven. Care should always be taken to not cover the fan intake inside the oven as well as the exit ducts in the four corners of the internal fan shroud. The thermal fuse can also reach an excessive temperature if the thermal fuse cover vents are obstructed, this can cause the metal parts to heat up excessively.

It is also possible to cause the fuse to blow by overloading the oven or by opening the doors often or for long periods of time. Doing this can cause the heater to run at full power for prolonged periods of time. As the element itself does get to very high temperature, over time this type of operation can lead to the radiant heat from the element heating the oven’s internal metal components to a temperature in excess of the air temperature inside the oven. To protect against this we designed the thermal fuse cover such that it heats up, in turn heating the air locally under the thermal fuse cover causing the fuse to blow when this happens.

So to summarize:

• Take car not to restrict any vents when loading the oven
• Do not overload the oven
• Try to minimize the opening of the doors when running at high temperatures.

If you do have any further questions, please ask.

Thanks for the prompt and detailed reply. I did not mean to put the blame on you calibration/testing procedure, but was wondering if there was anything we had to do during install besides calibrating the PID. It is good to know that the ovens are rigorously tested, so it will indeed probably be due to opening the doors and/or limited air flow.

When it happened, there was only a very small mould inside which should not really hinder air flow too much. However, we do put the rack in the middle of the oven (in front of the fan), and not at the bottom or the top. Is this a problem for the air flow?

I will check again when we install a new thermal fuse and try running an empty oven while keeping the doors locked.