Test Firing In Older Kiln

[yarddog]

(Sorry in advance if this is a duplicate...original post seems to have disappeared.)

 

I picked up a tiny 30 or 40 yr old L&L Econo K14 which had probably never fired higher than 05 or 04 in its long life at a community center.

 

I'd like to re-purpose it as a test kiln for a batch of glaze variants. I think these little babies were originally rated up to 2300, but I'm not sure that's realistic, especially considering its age and history.

 

I'm testing mid range glazes, 5 and 6. Am I being overly cautious?

 

Thanks for your perspective.

[Bugs]

yarddog, I have an old model K-18 L&L Econo kiln that I bought back in the early 70s.  I fired it about 30 times till about 1980 then didn't use it till about three years ago.  I am up to firing #78 and it is still going strong.  I fire to 04 bisque and 6 for glaze.  Those little kilns were make to last. 

[Denice]

If the kiln was wired originally to fire up to mid-range stoneware it should be able to handle it.  Give it a test and see how it does, if it takes forever then the wires may need to be replaced.  One of my kilns is 43 years old the other is 25 and my test kiln is 15, they have all had to be rewired in the past.  Denice

[neilestrick]

First, look HERE for some important info on the wiring configuration for that kiln. Assuming everything is good with the wiring, and the serial plate says it's able to fire that hot, then there's no reason you can't do it. I would open up the control boxes to make sure everything's good in there, like the wires aren't crispy and the connections aren't corroded.