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So... I bought a used Skutt 181 manual kiln (manufactured in 1975 FYI) for $170 and I am now at a point where if not regretting the buy, I am considering whether putting in the repairs needed for it are worth the money, OR, if I should just cut my losses and look for a newer/better condition kiln. I'll list the conditions and potential repairs, and pictures if possible. So, to start, there was no power cord/plug so I had to buy one, not too much of a biggie-was able to find a proper plug/cord for $20. For the time being I can't afford the re-wiring for a new (240) outlet so I'll be using a heavy duty proper amp/temp rated extension cord to reach our dryer outlet; that's another $90. The plug for the kiln is 4 prong, outlet is 3 prong - the proper converter cost $40. So that's an additional $150 and I don't even know if it works yet. AND there was no furniture included - lowest price for a couple shelves and stilts is around $250...sigh. And need 4 peep hole plugs. Now on to the potential issues. One, the porcelain tube around the kiln sitter is broken though the (thermocoupler) rod inside seems fine. So that will need to be replaced. Not sure of $ for that. Two, it seems that some bees had used it as a hive? As I was doing some inspection-cleaning of the elements and grooves in the brick I got out a bunch of debris from it-only mention this because some of the bee combs are inside the coils. I expect that those will smoke like crazy if the elements work when turned on. For the elements themselves, the top set looks good-all silver no apparent corrosion. The bottom set though is quite brown and likely need to be replaced. Pricing the replacements it's about $44 per set and I think this model needs 2 (maybe 3?). So, $132. Three-the brick had some scoring/brown on it but it wasn't til I started cleaning that I saw how deteriorated all 8 sides of the bottom section are. As in, the brick for the whole bottom (kiln sitter) layer is crumbling like crazy. So those are about $14 a piece, add a couple more than the 8 I know are needed to make 10, is $140. So- just to get the kiln up and running I'm looking at $422 and that's not even including the furniture.... I have seen newer/better condition kilns (with furniture and plug/cord) listed for $500... Is it better to cut my losses and get a different kiln OR put the $ into repairing this one? One additional question re the leads from the cord- comes with 4 colors, green, black, white, red. My understanding is that I don't attach the green, and don't need to use/ attach the red or white-which only leaves the black. Am I correct? I want to be able to get power to it so I can determine what needs to be fixed (whether I keep it or not). Thanks in advance for your insights!

I've bought two small used kilns that I want to try and replace the control box to a digital one and I'm not sure what all I would need to actually buy. These kilns are Skutt Electric Kilns the model number is 145, I've found the manual online, the kilns are the same except the plug-ins are different, I'd like to make them the same. Also they say 120/240-208 does this mean I could make it either 120v or 240v, what materials would I need to change them? Could I possibly stack them and wire them together to make one kiln? I'm currently only using a 120v kiln for my work as I don't have heavy duty outlets, the house I live in doesn't have washer or dryer hook ups. Thank you for the help!

I have a used (10 yr old) Cress E23. I've been having problems for awhile and have consulted with tech at Cress for the following. Initial Problem: Kiln not getting up to temp in reasonable time. Bisque fire fine, Glaze (^5) would not get hot enough even after 10 hours on med fast. However all ware was obviously over-fired - I assume from extended time even at under cone temp. Fixes recommended and completed: Replace elements, replace thermocouple. First firing after these fixes was bisque, used pre-programmed ^04, speed slow - all good. (10 hours) Second firing, glaze, used pre-programmed ^5 med-fast. Kiln shut off at temp. I was working and did not hear it click off, but I'm pretty sure it fired to temp, because I checked it after 15 min. and the temp was very close to ^5. I looked inside the peep to see cones, noticed that every other element was still orange. I assumed that this was part of the cooling process, not all elements turning off at the same time. I left it for 5 hours. When I came back out, the temp was still at 1600, and half the elements were still orange. Obviously all the glaze ran off my test tiles, thank goodness I had protected my kiln shelves! If anyone has experienced this problem I would love to know how to fix it. I want to test it again using a self programmed ^5 (John Britt's E1) to see if it will shut down in user-program mode. I will post results from that next. Appreciate any info you can share. Linda

Hello everybody! After reading the forum for months preparing myself for my first firing (I hope the ones after the first will not be as stressful ) I'm now posting for the first time because I really need help from my fellow Canadians potters... I am not a professionals, I'm an hobbyist, I do pottery because I love it. After many years going to classes etc I finally bought my own kiln! It's an old Paragon A88B and it has been fired only few times many years ago... when i bought it i checked it with the lady selling it and the kiln is working. My problem is that I probably need to change the amp or the fuse of the dryer plug in my basement (the one I was planning to use for the kiln) in order to have enough power for the kiln to work properly... (right now it does not heat until I put it on "high" and on "high" it makes a really strange noise.. clearly the electrical line I'm using is not powerful enough) - I believe the kiln needs 26 amp and my fusebox on the dryer plug says 10 amp...) So, I need an electrician... I called several electricians I knew and some I didn't know, but NOBODY was available to help me out... every time I explained the problem they told me it's not something they do!!! Is there some of you torontonians that had to do some electrical work for their own kiln, and could please give me the name of their contact? I would be forever grateful... I have tons of pot ready to go, waiting sadly on my shelves... cheers, ...and thank you for reading me! consuelo

Hello, I recently acquired a used Skutt 1227 and want to ensure its in good working condition before I begin firing my orders, which are piling up. Unfortunately the kiln seems to be overfiring and my trouble-shooting hasn't helped. I'm new to firing but have read up on what to do. We started by replacing the elements and the thermocouple, and did the following for an 04 test fire: -packed the kiln with furniture -placed a set of cones on each shelf (03 04 05) - set the kiln to run at 04, medium speed, with no hold Kiln ran for a duration of 7.32 hours and reported reaching 1948 degrees. The cones however all melted down (image attached). I'm inexperienced here, but does this seem unusual? I saw some discussion about calibration, so is that a normal part of the process that I'm missing? (One other thing I will note incase it could play a factor is that we rewired the kiln to be single phase and are running it on a 50 amp breaker. It is quite close to maxing out the breaker which I understand is not good, but I don't know if that's something that could play in to overfiring.) Thanks in advance for your input!