L&L EQ2327-3 or JD230-JH? Which one should I purchase?

Hi Paul,

The eq is listed as having heavy duty elements,while the jd has SUPER heavy duty elements. You might want to call and find out what that's all about.

Marie

the difference in brick is k23 is rated for 2300 defrees and k25 is rated for 2500 degrees f. are you sure its not k26 tho? the place i get my stuff doesnt have k25, they have k26. most kilns rated for cone 10 have the k23 brick and it works just fine. if u are planning on going higher to cone 11 and 12 often obviously the k25 is what u want. but even k23 can handle cone 11 and 12 from time to time and be just fine. i used to fire to cone 11 and 12 in my skutt 1027 with 2.5 inch k23 brick and its still holding up strong. i bet a larger percent of ppl on here that do crystals have the k23 by far in their kilns. a bit of that extra price is probably in the brick being rated higher.

id say if it were me and it had to be between these two id go with the eq2327. tho the 3 inch brick i dont care for only because it makes the volume a little smaller.

i feel like the whole selling point on fast up and down for crystals is for people who dont know any better. we can get our 1027 up in 4.5-5 hrs to peak, which i feel is already fast. how fast do u need to go? we usually do it closer to six or seven tho. fast cool to freeze the crystals? they get frozen in there no matter how fast or slow you cool and as you start to do larger items you may find yourself slowing everything down to keep the ware from cracking.

i see no need to go to cone 12. you might be able to get some difference in your glazes but there is already so much to explore at cone 10 and the extra possibilities from cone 12 seem limited to me.

i dont see where all that extra money is coming from unless its just the fact that the jd one has apms? possibly? and it obviously has a type s tc but that should be just over $100 more to upgrade on the eq....

i agree with marie about the elements tho, find out what that is all about. i used to think there were just two types of elements (a-1s vs apms) but we had a guy from skutt visiting our place in december and we mentioned the uneven peak in the 822 and he said they had some special elements for each section that would fix that. we were going to be given a set to try them out but unfortunately that didnt happen.

again tho, on our skutts it seems we get the same dollar for life in each kiln for the elements (a-1s vs apms) but i prefer apms just because i hate changing those things and we reduce in ours, just that the smaller the kiln the quicker they wear. maybe you can find someone with some actual few years of experience with these kilns to help you out.

i am basing all of my input on experience from other brands so im not sure how much it counts.

G

ps sorry for bad grammer and typos. my internet is giving me problems so i cant use the computer right now and typed all this on a smart phone, which i am horrible at.

I guess for me it would depend on the elements maybe and if i had the extra cash at the time to spend on the JD. if the JD has apms and the EQ does not, i might go with the JD. If i recall correctly a set of A-1s should run about $300 for that size kiln and the APMs more like a grand. Then the extra cash would be justified if that were the case with the elements.

I have always tried to save, so I have bought my kilns floor model talking the price down to get a ton of money off, then use them as they are, but upgrade as the tc and elements die. (Though the tc we have generally upgraded a lot sooner, and the first time buying new elements in the 1027 we went with more A-1s...)

If the JD has type S tc and apms, and the EQ has type K tc and A-1 elements the price is already justified in that, and then you get the k25 brick as an added bonus... a nice to have but not necessary.

if that were the case about the elements, then for me it would just come down to whether or not i could fork out the extra money up front.

G

Paul
I am not overly familiar with l&l kilns. I am somewhat familiar with these two however. Brick needs to be 3" minimum, it holds and stores heat better. Power is also key for crystalline because the kiln has to be able to climb at the upper end.1800-2000 watts per cubic foot is required to maintain a study climb at higher temps. A kiln with thinner brick and lower power will eat you alive in firing costs. K23 will do the job, just needs to be thicker. I will look at these kilns tomorrow and let you know which is more suitable. I am sure price is an issue, it always is. Remember though, kilns last for decades if properly maintained.
Tom