Yet again, I'm asking for input from the warmglass discussion board. Tonight I'm going to look at a used 28" Jen-Ken that someone is selling for 1/3 the price. The catch: he bought it from a flea market and has never plugged it in b/c he never ran power for it. Supposedly everything looks good to him, but he really has no information about when it was bought, how well it runs, when it was last run, etc. It has an Orton AutoFire, but the 6 button kind, not the 12 button kind. And it does have a glass viewing window. Does this date the kiln at all?
I figure that as long as it WORKS i can replace the coils ($50?) and the thermocouple ($30?), and even the controller ($250?) and still get a good deal. Is there anything that may have happened in its past to make it non-operable? What should I look for? The main thing I'm concerned about is whether or not it's possible for the electrical components of the kiln to be broken w/out me able to see what's wrong.
If worse comes to worse and the kiln doesn't work, hopefully I can sell it locally to someone who's willing to fix it, or the guy I'm buying from said he'd take it back. Then again, I'd have already invested the money to run power to it.
Please send along any thoughts. I'm looking at it this afternoon (4pm PST) but will make up my mind quickly after that.
Thank you!
Used kiln from flea market - what trouble to look for?
Moderators: Brad Walker, Tony Smith
