Second hand Kiln advice

[grace_2019]

Hi everyone

I am looking at buying a second hand kiln on eBay. I have found several. The insides all seen to have black/green stuff. For those who have kilns, is this just normal signs of use? Will this interfere with how well it works?
(I will try and include photos. If they upload, are there any that you think I should steer clear? Number 2 and 4 are open bidding at £0.99. 1 and 3 are £100 each)


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190809/e8dffdbeedbd51d70846845f7f57ac6c.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190809/cca5fb34ee7be17dd3f6966471a0582a.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190809/e5fb72091cb94fc1a2f6cd256f3e5b63.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190809/6fba990bccfdb7c81fb91cba3a242991.jpg

[china]

It is a bit hard to tell from the photos, although it looks to to me like just bad house keeping and a clean out would fix them, be aware that any thing you buy from Ebay is a bit of a lucky dip (new or second hand) be sue it will do what you require
you don't say what country you are in so voltage could also be a issue.

[Lucie]

A bit of staining can be ok.
There shouldn't be any major problems with the brickwork inside - No large cracks, bits missing, covered in melted *stuff*.

Have any of them been recently PAT tested? If not electrically sound you could trip out all your electrics, or worse, give yourself a nasty shock.

Can you check to see if the heating element is working properly. Not just turning on, but getting up to the correct temperature.

I got stung a while back buying a second hand plating machine with a dud heating element. It turned on and heated ok, but I couldn't control the temperature. It kept on going up way too high, reaching boiling temperature.
I bought a replacement from Walsh's and fitted it, but:
a. It was around £100
b. You need to be sure you can still get spare parts for these.
c. If you're not sure how to replace it yourself, do you know someone who can?

The digital settings and pre programmable settings on modern tabletop kilns are extremely helpful.

I hope that helps a bit.