Operating An Old Tebbe/veka Kiln

[Maarten]

Hello all,

 

recently I started with pottery, bought myself an old second-hand kiln (Tebbe/VeKa 1976 3.3 kW, model 3OTS) and I'm trying to figure out how everything works. I'm looking for some help on how to operate the kiln. Below you find a picture of all the knobs and buttons on the front panel ("regeling oven"), I will go by them left to right to ask the questions I have with them:

 

The left button sets the speed of heating (1-2-3-4-full)

- It's not clear  to me how fast this heating happens in each of these presets in °C/min

- How to keep the oven at a certain temperature (ex. at 1100°C during 30')

 

The red light next to this button is clear, this lights when the oven is heating.

 

The clock seemed clear to me as on on-off switch and so the duration of a firing program. Does this clock and the little switches around it have any other function regarding output power? In an old manual I found something indicating that the kiln fires at half power as long als the switches are outward, full power when inward. But:

- once the clock moves across these switches it loses temperature very fast.

- I assume the clock could be used as a kind of timer from drying process to quartz alteration, but it isn't very clear how to achieve this.

- more general, the interaction between the clock, temperaturesetting, desired temperature, firing duration, ... isn't very clear to me.

 

The green button next to the clock initiates the oven, above this is a red light. This one I haven't seen burning, so I don't know what it is used for or what it is indicating?

 

The temperature at the right, sets the endtemperature of the oven, once this temperature is reached, the oven switches off. The numbers however don't match reality, the oven is always hotter then indicated.

 

So in general, my question: is someone here at the forum familiar with this kind of kiln? 

 

I tested the limits of the kiln recently with orton cones and reached cone 6 (1260 °C), at that moment the oven was still raising temperature at 30 °C/ hour. So I think it could be pushed a little bit further (reaching cone 9-10)

 

I also added a photo of the coils inside the kiln, are they still in a decent state?

 

thanks a lot

 

kind regards

Maarten - Flanders (Belgium)

[neilestrick]

I have no idea, however-

 

1. The clock may simply be a countdown timer like on Kiln Sitters, and simply shuts the kiln off whether it has reached temperature or not, as a backup safety mechanism.

2. The 1-2-3-4-full switch may just be a low-med-high type, and doesn't control the rate of climb, but rather the heat output of the elements, which is not a linear thing like 50C/hr. It will only get so hot on 1, and must be turned to 2.

3. There's a good chance you will not be able to hold temperature.

 

Of course, I'm just guessing about all this. 

[Maarten]

Hello Neil,

 

thanks for your suggestions. The 1-2-3-4-full switch is time based. For example on 1 it heats 5 seconds every minute, ... on full there's no interruption and the power in on full time. I usualy start at 0.5 to reach 560°C, from  there on it goes full. So I didn't use 2-3-4 so far. When the kiln is shut off by the clock it isn't like 'all power off'. the indicator light at the temperature setting (top left corner at the knob at the right) remains lit. When the door opens, or the temperature setting is exceded, the indicator light stop burning and the kiln goes full power off.

I hope this explanation makes sense ...

 

kind regards

Maarten