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Paragon Questions
Does Dogwood Ceramic Supply repair kilns? I don't live near Dogwood Ceramic Supply, who will come to my home to repair my kiln? Who will fix the kiln at my school? Will Dogwood Ceramic Supply's competitors repair my kiln? Maybe I should repair my own kiln. How difficult is it to repair my own kiln? What parts commonly fail on a kiln / how fast do parts typically fail on a kiln? Can Dogwood Ceramic Supply help me repair my kiln over the telephone? Where can I learn more about repairing kilns? Fill-in-the-blank Kiln Vendor said "if you buy a kiln from me then Dogwood Ceramic Supply will repair the kiln". Does Dogwood Ceramic Supply sell every model of Paragon Kiln? Does Dogwood Ceramic Supply sell the old style manually operated Paragon Kilns? Why do "Internet" Companies sell every model of Paragon Kiln? Does Dogwood Ceramic Supply sell other brands of Kilns? Why do "Internet" Company sell so many brands of Kilns? How can you tell a vendor has a working knowledge of the Paragon kiln line? What models of Paragon Kilns does Dogwood Ceramic Supply keep in stock? How many copies of each Paragon Kiln does Dogwood Ceramic Supply keep in stock? The Internet Company says they got every kiln in stock. Does Dogwood Ceramic Supply have kiln parts in stock?
Mesquite Texas, just outside of Dallas. Factory pickup of kilns by customers is possible to avoid freight charges, please contact Dogwood
Does Dogwood Ceramic Supply repair kilns? Yes Dogwood Ceramic Supply repairs the PARAGON kilns that WE sold. Dogwood Ceramic Supply provides warranty and non-warranty repairs of Paragon Kilns WE sold at our Gulfport Mississippi showroom. If you purchase a Paragon kiln from another vendor contact that vendor for support or service. If you have another brand of kiln then please contract the manufacturer of that kiln. Please note, Dogwood Ceramic Supply repairs kilns that are returned to our showroom for repairs as we do not have the capability of performing repairs in the field.
I don't live near Dogwood Ceramic Supply, who will come to my home to repair my kiln? Repairing a kiln is not very difficult. If you are unable or unwilling to repair your own kiln there are other options. Usually small appliance repairmen or air conditioning repairmen are hired to perform kiln repairs. In the words of one AC repairman "an element is an element, just give me a wiring diagram and I will be good".
Who will fix the kiln at my school? For insurance and liability reasons most schools can not allow an outside repairmen to work on school property. In most school districts the school district electrician or permanent maintenance staff will usually perform any kiln repairs. Schools in our local market can bring the Paragon Kiln that was purchased from Dogwood Ceramic Supply back to our showroom for repairs.
Will Dogwood Ceramic Supply's competitors repair my kiln? Most likely NO. Most kiln vendors are busy taking care of their established customers and will usually have a written policy that the vendor will only repair the kilns that were sold by the vendor. This limit on repairs is due to a combination of reasons including staffing levels as well as keeping common parts in stock.
Maybe I should repair my own kiln. How difficult is it to repair my own kiln? Not very difficult. Let's discuss the most common tasks: Within the control panel there are three major components that could need replacing 1) The digital controller is mounted on the control panel with 4 screws. The wiring harness connects to the digital controller with 2 push-on Molex (computer type) connectors. 2) The thermocouple connects to the back of the digital controller with two push-down wire connectors and then is mounted with 1 or 2 screws to the kiln chamber. 3) The mechanical relays are usually bolted on a mounting plate within the control panel and have push-on wire connectors. The other major items to need replacing are the kiln elements. Depending upon the complexity of the design of the kiln and the location of the element the changing of an element can be a simple 5 minute task or lengthy 30 minute task. If you can use a screwdriver, pliers and wire cutters you can most likely change your own elements.
What parts commonly fail on a kiln / how fast do parts typically fail on a kiln? Good question. All parts will eventually fail, the real question is "when".
Elements: Elements produce heat by resisting the flow of electricity. The heat generated by the element must be dispersed (radiated) away from the element and element life is directly affected by how well that heat is dispersed. At maximum power the typical element will be operating at 2500°F. The peak temperature within the kiln may range from 1400 to 2350°F. If you notice, at the highest peak temperature within the kiln there is little difference between the element temperature and the temperature within the kiln, thus an element operating at this elevated temperature will generally have the shortest life. As a general rule glass artists seldom consume an element and ceramists firing to 2000°F will have significantly better element life than a potter firing to 2350°F. Why can't we give you a number of firings before element failure? Because there are other factors, such as the mass fired in the kiln, presence of high concentrations of metallic oxides or oxygen consuming organics (paper clay, wax, decals, overglazes) that also affect element life. One of Dogwood's largest production studios firing to Cone 6 projected element life for his top loading kilns at 250 firings and he replaces his elements every 12 months. Another one of Dogwood's customers firing to Cone 06 has element life of barely 50 firings and replaces his elements every 2 months. Dogwood's Dragon has gone 6+ years of 3 times per week firings without element failure. Oh, and one more thing.... those little blowups that occur in a kiln will wreck havoc with your elements as the heat of the element can not be radiated into the kiln chamber.
Thermocouples: Thermocouples are much like elements in their durability.
The industry standard K-Type Thermocouple does work quite well and will last
figuratively forever in a glass kiln. At low-fire ceramic temperatures the
K-Type may last several hundred firings. At Cone 6 the K-Type may last 50
or so firings, with 100 firings possible in the right circumstances. At
Cone 10 the life of the K-Type might be counted on your fingers and toes. Relays: Mechanical relay failure for glass kilns is similar to the life of a K-Type Thermocouple firing to Cone 6. It is not a question of if, but when. Glass artists annealing glass should consider keeping a spare mechanical relay or two on hand or better yet consider upgrading to the high reliability Mercury Relays. One important note: Relays can fail in either the open or closed position, thus relay failure can result in a kiln continuing to fire and may potentially damage the kiln. Maybe that is why Paragon says to monitor a kiln at all times during the firing. Like we previously said, maybe every glass artist should consider upgrading to the high reliability Mercury Relays. Relay failure for for ceramists and potters is not a common occurrence as the kiln firing cycle (on-off cycle) is less frequent than for glass which allows the relay to cool during the off portions of the firing cycle. One note: relay failures do occur, often after elements have been replaced or other repairs made, as the wiring harness to the relay is stretched or stressed and the connection over heats. Fortunately this type of failure prevents the relay from transmitting power to the element, thus an overfire situation is prevented.
Transformers: Yes they die. Or they live forever. Seriously, the failure rate of transformers is about 1 in every 5000 or so kilns sometime during the first two or three firings. After that high failure rate period the transformer will most likely outlive the entire kiln. By the way, when the transformer dies the power to the digital controller is shut off which prevents over firings. Bottom line, we don't worry about transformer failures. They rarely happen and when they do fail the effects are not damaging to the kiln.
Digital Controllers: The Orton Sentry 2.0 Digital Controller used by Paragon
since February 2001 is a huge upgrade in reliability over the Bartlett
controllers previously used by Paragon. While controller failure can happen, like most electronic
devises the greatest failure rate is usually in the first few months of usage.
Fortunately the Orton Sentry 2.0 Digital Controller has a 30 month warranty.
Other parts: There are no "other parts" that routinely need replacing or repairs. Well basically nothing electronic. The kiln bricks are easily damaged by the errant kiln shelf or from exploding wares becoming lodged in the element channels and melting. The metal skin of the kiln will eventually rust, especially if the kiln is located near a body of saltwater. And there are minor wires and connectors within the control panel that may need to replaced if major repairs are required within the control panel.
Can Dogwood Ceramic Supply help me repair my kiln over the telephone? Yes. When you bought a kiln from Dogwood Ceramic Supply customer support after the sale was included in the price you paid for the kiln. Just pickup the telephone and give us a call. Don't worry, we have heard most questions before. About 99.9% of your questions will be answered without looking up the answer in the book. Ok, maybe just 99% of the questions, but you already know about our capabilities from when you purchased the kiln.
Where can I learn more about repairing kilns? The Paragon factory offers an in-depth kiln repair seminar several times per year. Visit www.Paragonweb.com for dates and costs.
Fill-in-the-blank Kiln Vendor said "if you buy a kiln from me then Dogwood Ceramic Supply will repair the kiln". Fill-in-the-blank lied. It is not the first
time that somebody has lied about kiln service. We first heard the lie back in
1988 in our first month of operation, so it quite obvious that the lie has been
circulating around for many years and will mostly likely be used by others in the
future. Fill-in-the-blank Kiln Vendor, Part II, said "if you buy a kiln from me then Dogwood Ceramic Supply will answer your kiln questions". Yep, sure. If you believe that we have a bridge we
would like to sell to you.
Does Dogwood Ceramic Supply sell every model of Paragon Kiln? No, and there is little need for us to sell every model. There are many kilns are redundant or nearly identical to another kiln. Take a look at the TnF 66-3. The TnF 66-3 is 6% less expensive and 30% smaller than the TnF 1613-3. The Fusion 6 is 3% less expensive and 40% smaller than the Fusion 7. In both instances the smaller kilns were designed for export markets where the standard electrical service can not handle the slightly larger kiln and in general are a poor value compared to the larger kilns sold by Dogwood Ceramic Supply. Not everything is an issue of redundant kiln designs. There are certain specialty or niche markets, such as beads and jewelry, where the sales of kilns in these markets are best performed by suppliers that can offer the supporting materials (such as jewelry findings) along side the sale of the kiln. Bottom line, we choose to sell what is a good value for our customers and can be best supported by our business.
Does Dogwood Ceramic Supply sell the old style manually operated Paragon Kilns? Not any more. The mass produced digital controller
was introduced to the kiln world in 1991. Since that time the digital
controller has undergone several generational improvements and has proven itself
in terms of accuracy and reliability to become the preferred operating system
for kilns. At the time the DTC 800 Digital Controller was introduced in
the mid 90's, Dogwood's sales of the old style kilns with a mechanical shut off
device (kiln sitter) was about 25% of our total sales. By the time the
Orton Sentry 2.0 Digital Controller was introduced in February 2001, Dogwood's
sales of the old style kilns with a mechanical kiln sitter were less than 1 kiln
of every 100 sold.
Why do "Internet" Companies sell every model of Paragon Kiln? I am sure they claim they "sell" every model of Paragon Kiln. In reality some of these kiln models have very limited USA sales. Some of these kilns had great sales in the past, but have declined in popularity with the introduction of newer kilns. In addition there are kiln models that have just one or two USA sales per year while export orders of the same kiln can run well into the hundreds of units per year. So why list all those kilns? All too often the Internet Companies lack a working knowledge of the products so they just list everything. The Catalog Companies do the same thing. It is impressive to the casual customer and they might land those few odd ball sales that happen each year. Dogwood Ceramic Supply actually owns and uses several Paragon kilns each business day. We have owned (and retired) other brands of kilns as well as several more Paragon kilns. Bottom line, we might have a clue of what makes a good kiln for our needs and we take our working knowledge of the product line and put it to good use.
Does Dogwood Ceramic Supply sell other brands of Kilns? We did in the past. For many years we sold Duncan Kilns along side Paragon Kilns. And the two brands seemed to compliment each other and did not cannibalize the sales of each other. Then in the summer of 1996 Paragon purchased the Duncan kiln line. The best selling Duncan models were integrated into the Paragon kiln line. Since that time Dogwood Ceramic Supply has tried to sell other brands of kilns. Not trying to knock the other products, but the Paragon kilns just sold better for us with fewer problems and more happy customers. So we gave up trying to sell any other brand of kiln as it was not a good working situation for our business.
Why do "Internet" Company sell so many brands of Kilns? Catalog Companies do the same thing. Sometimes lots of brands. A few years ago, one of the Catalog Companies listed 11 brands of kilns. Why? Because it is easier to list all brands than taking the time to learn the strengths and weaknesses of a product line and selecting just a few brands to sell. It is even much harder to be dedicated to a single brand, but Dogwood Ceramic Supply has made it work. Maybe it is our dedication or it is our working knowledge of the product. Or maybe Paragon is just a much better kiln. Whatever is the deciding factor, Dogwood Ceramic Supply is happy to sell only ONE brand of kiln. By the way, notice that we said "list" in the previous paragraph. That is a very important word. Many times the vendor will just "list" every brand in an attempt to attract customers while actually selling just a single brand or two. This baiting and switching has always been a problem in this industry, exacerbated by manufacturer's policies that keep small, poorly performing vendors listed as active vendors for the product line for years without fear of being deleted.
How can you tell a vendor has a working knowledge of the Paragon kiln line? Start with the basics. Look at the content of Paragon's website versus the vendor's website. For many "Internet" and "Catalog" companies the content of their websites may be an exact match of the Paragon website. Legally Paragon vendors are entitled to use of any published content from the Paragon website or catalog. And it is easier to copy the work of others. Now take a look at Dogwood Ceramic Supply's Paragon Kiln Catalog. Little of our content will match anything on the Paragon website. This is far more than a marketing effort. Most of the content of our Paragon Kiln Catalog was written by Dogwood Ceramic Supply based upon our working experience with various Paragon Kilns as well as customer feedback. That customer feedback is important. From customer feedback Dogwood Ceramic Supply is well aware that small kilns with a relatively low price are attractive to many customers. Some vendors are aware of that fact as well and are very eager to sell small kilns. Unfortunately, many of these small kilns really do not meet the needs of the customers, especially customers working with ceramics and pottery. Based upon customer feedback, we developed a small kiln comparison that discusses the key benefits and limitations of many small kilns in hopes of creating happy and informed consumers.
What models of Paragon Kilns does Dogwood Ceramic Supply keep in stock? All of them. Ok, seriously, we keep the kilns that are most popular with our established local and regional customers that purchase kilns from our showroom. The front page of the Paragon Kiln Catalog has a picture taken from the Dogwood Ceramic Supply Showroom. The kilns found on that picture, as well as the Janus variants of those kilns, are routinely stocked by Dogwood Ceramic Supply in our warehouse. Looking for something different? No problem, other kilns are readily available for showroom pickup via one of Dogwood's routine orders from Paragon. And every kiln can be drop shipped from the Factory direct to the customer's location.
How many copies of each Paragon Kiln does Dogwood Ceramic Supply keep in stock? Lots of them. Big kilns in a hurry is a common need for production studios so we always try to have the key large kilns in stock in our warehouse in quantities sufficient for just about any situation. But, there are changes occurring. Over the past two years Paragon has added two plasma cutters to increase their production capabilities. Those plasma cutters have significantly decreased the lead time getting replacement kilns to Dogwood's warehouse. Most importantly the faster turn around time is allowing Dogwood to stock a wider variety of kilns rather than a deeper quantity of a single kiln. Take the hugely popular Paragon TnF 27-3 as example. There are 4 different 240v configurations of the TnF 27-3 that we routinely sell through the showroom. In the past we would guess which variant would sell and keep 10-12 copies on hand to meet the needs of our production customers. Today we can stock all 4 different kiln configurations, just 2-3 copies deep. Same total inventory quantity, but a bigger selection that results in better customer service for a wider range of customers. All because the replacement inventory arrives faster. And the needs of our production customers is easily met by the faster turn around on kiln orders.
The Internet Company says they got every kiln in stock. Yea. And so do the Catalog Companies. It is easy to claim "in stock". We have all heard it before. For some things "in stock" really is true, except it is not always the complete truth. For example, Paragon produces a number of small 120v kilns that have few if any options. The Paragon newsletter to the distributor just recently announced that Paragon had built up their inventory levels of those specific kilns and could offer same day or next day shipping on those kilns. Over the next few days after that announcement we saw several internet kiln vendors update their websites and claim "kiln in stock with same day shipping". Sounds good, except it is pretty obvious that the stocking party is most likely the Paragon factory. Some vendors really do stock kilns. Dogwood Ceramic Supply has kilns in stock. Some of our competitors, including the Internet and Catalog Companies, actually do stock some kilns. The reason that we, as a group, stock kilns is because there is a customer expectation for products "in stock" and some customers truly can not wait a few days to replace their dying kiln. However, as a group the Paragon kiln distributors that actually have kilns in warehouse stock provide a very limited selection of the possible kiln models. A limited selection? Yes. Look at a typical pottery kiln. USA customers can purchase that kiln in either 208v and 240v configurations. Then add 1ph or 3ph to the mix. The kiln can predrilled for KilnVent or left plain, with AOP or without. Of course there are thermocouple options. Do the math. And that is before we add the 480v and export models into the mix. The published Paragon price list has approximately 95 "standard" kilns with another 30 or so kilns that are not listed on the price list but are are listed on the Paragon website. With the basic list of options and the various USA electrical specifications there are roughly 2000 possible USA kiln configurations. Factor in the export configurations, 480v option, AMP elements, left-side mount control panels and the number of different kiln designs grows to well over 10,000 configurations. Surely nobody actually buys all those different configurations? Maybe not, but what we do know is that the various Paragon Dragons sold by Dogwood Ceramic Supply between 2006 and 2007 had 6 different electrical specifications (208 1ph, 208 3ph, 240 1ph, 240v 3ph, 480v 3ph and 220v export). Add in the various kiln options and some months not a single Dragon was configured like another Dragon sold that month. By the way, Paragon only stocks a few kilns, can anybody figure out why?
Does Dogwood Ceramic Supply have kiln parts in stock? Yes, lots of kiln parts in stock! Sounds like kilns are not very reliable. Actually quite wrong. Dogwood Ceramic Supply has been in business since 1988. We have been selling kilns for a long time. Some of our customers have a dozen or more kilns with some of those kilns being 5, 10 or even 20 years old. With that kind of customer base it would be surprising that Dogwood Ceramic Supply didn't sell kiln parts every day of the week. The most common parts to fail? K-Type Thermocouples can last as little as 6-12 months for potters firing to Cone 6 or hotter. Dogwood Ceramic Supply has sold as many as 2 dozen K-Type Thermocouples in one business week. Needless to say we keep lots of K-Types in stock. And we keep plenty of S-Type Thermocouples in stock for customers that like to hit their S-Type with a kiln shelf. Besides Thermocouples, Dogwood Ceramic Supply keeps relays, transformers, digital controllers, infinite control switches, porcelain tubes, firing gauges, element connectors, element insulators and of course elements in stock. A pretty big selection. It is not perfect or complete, but we do try. Need a part in a hurry? No problem. Between Dogwood's inventory and the parts kept at the Paragon factory, 1 to 2 day delivery service on parts is always possible.
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