Jenny Lewis on sat 10 apr 04
Greetings all
I am sooooo excited at the mo, as I have heard about a second hand kiln for
sale and am very tempted to buy it. My mind is about 99.999 per cent made up.
But before I get too carried away with enthusiasm, I just wondered what I
should be asking and/or looking for. I've done some archive browsing, but I'm
still confused, a normal state these days, hah.
About the kiln - it is a Cromartie front loader, 7 cu ft. The owner is away
for a few days, but I hope to speak to her next week, so that I can ask for
some details about its age, number of firings, stuff like that. Ahah! that's
my problem - stuff like what? Anything I should be checking on apart from the
obvious age/firings which is about all I can think of?
I've just been to see it today, as a friend of the owner is looking after it,
and it looks ok. I may be a non-expert, but I've seen lots of totally
clapped out kilns in all my years at evening classes, so anything NOT being held
together with its own rust automatically looks wonderful to me. There are a few
cracks in the brickwork (very fine ones, not great gaping canyons), but I seem
to think this is normal, owing to expansion and contraction, and the bricks
themselves look pretty good, no bits chipped off or gouged out. Some fiber
blanket stuff outlining the door, also looks ok. Around the spyhole on the
outside has rusted, but I imagine this is normal too, resulting from steam being
let out in the early slow stages - is that right? The elements look ok too,
nothing dangling where it shouldn't be.
I would like to check with an electrician about the elec supply - which
brings me to wondering again, what should I be asking? My planned workshop is a
brick built shed at the bottom of the garden. Electricity supply goes as far as
a small wooden garden shed a few yards from it, so I will need to get it
extended that bit further. Does that sound like something do-able and
straightforward? My teeny knowledge of these things tells me yes. I was planning to get
an electrician round sometime, eventually, when I finally finish getting the
house organised... but now this opportunity has appeared so I need to ask
sooner than I thought I would.
One more thing (for now) - I am totally confused about single and 3-phase
supply. I've been reading till my brain aches, and I thought kilns needed
3-phase for some reason I never quite understood. However, I'm now told that they
don't (I checked with Cromartie on this) and my nearly-new about to be
nearly-mine kiln apparently can be "linked up to the mains" - I nodded and looked
knowledgeable, but thought I'd better check.
Ummm, that's all I can think of right now. Until I speak to the seller I
can't think of anything else, but I hope someone who has done something similar
could advise please.
Thanks in advance for any advice and info,
Jenny Lewis
in Eastleigh, Hampshire, UK
probably about to buy a kiln
wow
Fredrick Paget on sat 10 apr 04
>
>
About the kiln - it is a Cromartie front loader, 7 cu ft. ......
> My planned workshop is a
>brick built shed at the bottom of the garden. Electricity supply
>goes as far as
a small wooden garden shed a few yards from it,..
Jenny,
It sounds like it should run on the 220 volt mains, single phase, and
draw about 30 to 35 amps. You may have to have a heavier wire in the
circuit than the line that is there now. Look on the name plate to
see what the amp draw is or the wattage and one of us will figure out
the amps for you. I am in the USA and don't know the electric code
for UK so I don't know what the average house circuit in the UK is
rated for. Here we are limited to 20 amps in a receptacle circuit
in the house for general use. Kilns require heavier wiring about like
an electric range for example.
Forget about 3 phase. That is for industrial use. It makes it easier
and cheaper to run large motors. Here we can't even get it in a
residential setting.
I wouldn't worry about how many times it has been fired. You will
have to replace the elements sooner or later anyway. That is a fact
of life, especially if you fire cone 10.
Fred
--
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California, USA
fredrick@well.com
Cindi Anderson on sat 10 apr 04
Cracks in the brick are fine. The main thing is you may need to replace
elements. You might want to look into the cost of that just in case.
In the US, kilns come in many kinds of power. 240v, 208, single phase or 3
phase, etc. You match the kiln to the power you have available. If you are
putting it in a house in the US, your power will be 240v single phase. But
in the UK, I don't know what the standard is. The best bet is to read the
voltage, phase, and current from the nameplate on the kiln . Then give
those numbers to your electrician and see if the voltage matches and if you
have enough current available.
Cindi
Fremont, CA
----- Original Message -----
> I would like to check with an electrician about the elec supply - which
> brings me to wondering again, what should I be asking? ... I am totally
confused about single and 3-phase
> supply. I've been reading till my brain aches, and I thought kilns needed
> 3-phase for some reason I never quite understood.
Bobbruch1@AOL.COM on sun 11 apr 04
Jenny Lewis writes:
I am sooooo excited at the mo, as I have heard about
a second hand kiln for sale and am very tempted to buy it.=A0=20
My mind is about 99.999 per cent made up.
You might want to ask if anyone has ever fired lead in
the kiln, as I believe that lead can remain in some form in
a kiln for some time. Don't know if that is an issue for
other toxic ingredients
.
Bob Bruch
Arnold Howard on mon 12 apr 04
Jenny, the main thing to look for in a used kiln is the brickwork. If it is
in good condition, then the kiln was well cared for. I've seen abused kilns
that were almost destroyed, and they were only a year old.
You mentioned minimal rust. The kiln has probably not been fired much. It
sounds like a good one.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P.
arnoldhoward@att.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jenny Lewis"
> I am sooooo excited at the mo, as I have heard about a second hand kiln
for
> sale and am very tempted to buy it. My mind is about 99.999 per cent made
up.
> But before I get too carried away with enthusiasm, I just wondered what I
> should be asking and/or looking for.
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