Mark C. Posted December 13, 2019 Report Share Posted December 13, 2019 I bought a used skutt 1227 back in the late 90s-part of a sell out and move away deal-got a lightly used 1227 manual kiln and a Brent wheel and a bunch of low fire stuff I gave away from a student I knew for $1,000 bucks That kiln still has the orginal elements in the bottom two sections . (its a 3 section kiln-48 amp model.I have used it only to occasionally bisque in averaging 10 fires a year as I do 99% of all bisques in my 35 cubic gas car kiln .The kiln is taking longer than it should to fire now.I live where electricity is at a high cost$$$$per kilowatt. This kiln is from around 1993 and was before Skutt used KM or KS letters in the model numbers-its a staright 1227-240 model at 48 Amps The bands have completly rusted over time as this was the era that Skutt used cheap low grade stainless and a few years ago the bottom floor band fell off. I put a new one on then as well as top elements. This kiln has rusted bands and old 1993 elements and the latches and side section handles are about to fall off due to rust.The bricks are in great condition .I have at least 300-400 fires on this kiln all cone o8. I ordered all new elements and outer bands and new section side latches and all new side section handles as well as a some feeder wire and will replace all the rusted off junk. I may spray paint the red contol control boxes some new high heat color as they to have some rust as well. The kiln has a Dawson timer kiln sitter which works fine. (I replaced the tube in setter a decade ago)I wired this baby up decades ago to a Fire Right ramp controller ( long gone business) which turns up the kiln automatically to whatever set time I want. That is to say you can turn the control to say 5 and in approximately 5 hours the kiln will be on 100%. You set all three switches to full on and leave tham alone which I have for 25 years now.(they are set on high) The time you set up to 12 hours is when its 100% full on. That means no relay or switches are wearing out as well. It all takes place in the fire right controller and a definite Purpose contactor (75amp) as I got tired of replacing burned out 60 amp ones).I bought a spare controller years ago on e-bay so when this one burns out I can still have a ramp controller. This non computer kiln is near bullet proof-no much to wear out and very simple to operate.For my use its ideal. This order is from Skutt (took two persons to do the order as this is an older kiln and new folks did not know about old stuff,I have been dealing with Skutt since the early 70s) and including shipping and tax is $803.00 The kiln will be near new conditiuon after this upgrade. I'll take some photos of the job after xmas as I,m firing the last bisque in it tomorrow before it gets rebuilt.Ho Ho Ho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted December 14, 2019 Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 Sounds like a good investment. 300-400 cone 08 firings is just barely breaking it in! As long as the bricks are in good condition, it's generally worth doing any other repairs. My recommended cutoff point for my customers is $1000. If it needs more than that I tell them to consider getting a new kiln. When we reach the $1000 mark it's usually because it needs a lot of bricks and a good portion of the electrical system too, and it's at the point that it'll start nickel-and-diming them to death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted December 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 It was either fix this one or order a new L&L thru you-I had a hard time justifying a new kiln (new would NOT be a Skutt) as this really is not used much in my production. Since the 3 inch bricks are good and my automate fire right is still working well I thought this makes the most sense .The kiln is about 10 cubic feet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CactusPots Posted December 14, 2019 Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 I have a question about bisque in the gas kiln. If your target is 08, how much variation do you have from top to bottom at that temperature? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted December 14, 2019 Report Share Posted December 14, 2019 12 hours ago, Mark C. said: It was either fix this one or order a new L&L thru you-I had a hard time justifying a new kiln (new would NOT be a Skutt) as this really is not used much in my production. Since the 3 inch bricks are good and my automate fire right is still working well I thought this makes the most sense .The kiln is about 10 cubic feet I think it's worth the investment. $800 every 25 years isn't bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted December 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 Last bisque before rebuild -unloaded today Parts came yesterday As the photos show rust has taken over-the latches are not attached and the handles are loose as well. The Stainless really is poor quality as the Skutt sitting next to this one from a decade earlier is still shiny stainless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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