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Paragon Kiln Repair, Service and Support Questions
Can Dogwood Ceramic Supply teach me to operate my new kiln?
Yes, of course. Providing basic (and sometimes not so basic) instruction is part of the purchase price of any new Paragon Kiln.
Instruction time at Dogwood Ceramic Supply. New kiln and prospective customers are being briefed on the proper operation of Orton Sentry 2.0 Digital Controller that is standard equipment on most Paragon Kilns. Dogwood Ceramic Supply is one of just a small handful of US distributors that has an active mockup of the Orton Sentry 2.0 Digital Controller on our sales floor for use by prospective customers.
What if I don't live near the Dogwood Ceramic Supply Showroom?
Not a problem, just pickup the telephone and give us a call during our normal business hours and ask for help or guidance. Selling kilns is not just about taking your money, it is also about providing telephone support even on Saturdays.
And for times when we are not available, Paragon provides a pretty darn good written owners manual (we should know, our webmaster was one of two outside consultants who helped edit the first edition of what is now known as the Sentry 2.0 Owners Manual) and many informative videos.
Can Dogwood Ceramic Supply help me repair/troubleshoot 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.... and that includes troubleshooting a sick 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 by our staff 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 from Dogwood Ceramic Supply.
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 sold by Dogwood Ceramic Supply at our Gulfport Mississippi showroom. If you purchase a Paragon kiln from another vendor, please 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 or the necessary licensing to performing repairs in the field.
What is the difference between warranty and non-warranty repairs?
Warranty repairs are a legal requirement of the product. New kilns are warranted for a period of time that varies according to the design and purpose of the kiln and features installed. See Paragon Warranty for specific information and limitations.
In practical terms Paragon Industries will repair any kiln under the terms of the Paragon Warranty at the Paragon factory with transportation costs to and from the factory paid by the owner. Dogwood Ceramic Supply provides the same warranty service as the Paragon factory, conditional upon the kiln being returned to our showroom with all transportation costs to and from our showroom paid by the kiln owner.
When it is not prudent, practical or necessary to return the kiln to the Paragon Factory or the Dogwood Ceramic Supply Showroom for repairs under the terms of the manufacturer's warranty, Paragon will supply replacement parts for the kiln owner to install with all labor costs the responsibility of the kiln owner.
Non-warranty repairs are outside the scope of the product warranty due to the age of the kiln or other exclusions. The cost of labor and any necessary parts is the responsibility of the kiln owner.
Dogwood Ceramic Supply's labor charges for non-warranty repairs is $65 per hour, billed in 1 hour increments, subject to a minimum 1 hour charge.
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 many other options. Many who chose to not perform their own kiln repairs will usually hire a small appliance repairmen or air conditioning repairmen licensed in their town to perform the kiln repairs. In the words of one experienced AC repairman "an element is an element, just give me a wiring diagram and I will be good to go".
Who will repair the kiln at my school?
For insurance and liability reasons most schools can not allow an outside repairmen to work on school property. Even if Dogwood Ceramic Supply did offer repairs in the field and IF the school district did allow outsiders to perform work on high amperage equipment on school property, the school district will typically stipulate the repairs be done by an electrician licensed by the local municipality. Obviously it not possible to meet and maintain the licensing requirements of 30,000 different cities and towns. Bottom line, 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 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 similar to our own 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, familiarity with unique products as well as keeping parts in stock common to the kilns sold by the vendor.
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 or lengthy 30 minute task. If you can use a screwdriver, pliers and wire cutters you can most likely change your own elements.
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.
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. When operating, the typical element will be operating at 2500°F, regardless of the actual temperature within the kiln. The kiln chamber peak temperature may range from 1400 to 2350°F. For a kiln operating at pottery temperatures (2000+°F) 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) as well as the available voltage under load (during the firing) that also affects 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 10+ 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. Maybe the guy replacing elements in his kiln every 2 months should read Speed is NOT your Friend to understand how to eliminate the blow ups in the kiln.
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 firing to 1400˚F. At low-fire ceramic temperatures (Cone 04) 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 set of circumstances. At Cone 10 the life of the K-Type might be counted on your fingers and toes... if you are lucky.
S-Type Thermocouples will last forever at all temperatures.... or until the thermocouple is struck with a shelf or exploding wares.
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 or using long soak times for fusing thick 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 relay failure 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. By the way, all of Paragon's Professional Glass Kilns, such as the Pearl 22 and Pearl 44, have Mercury Relays (MDR) as standard equipment. The Professional Glass kilns are painted black for ease of identification.
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 with longer on-off cycles. It is these long off cycles that allows the relay to cool and prevent relay failure. One note: relay failures do occur for ceramic/pottery kilns, frequently 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 over-fire 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 the pretty darn low initial 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, while we keep transformers in stock for immediate repair, we really don't worry about transformer failures as 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 in the past (and other kiln companies who continue to utilize the Bartlett controller in their kiln designs). 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.
The key advantage of the Orton Sentry Digital Controller is that any failure of the board or error message will cause the board to shut down and prevent power from flowing to the elements. This shut down is an intentional design feature that prevents over-firing situations from occurring. Most board shut downs are usually the result of an error message, such as element or thermocouple failure. Repair the underlying condition and the board will continue to operate. There are a few instances of complete board failure. These complete board failures are usually related to a hardware problem on the board itself and are not very common, maybe 1 in 1000 or 2000 kilns during the first few months of operation. The good news is the Orton Sentry Controller is being constantly upgraded and improved.
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 as well as all the metal screws 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.
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 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 thermocouples 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.
What about elements, does Dogwood Ceramic Supply have kiln elements in stock?
Yes, Dogwood Ceramic Supply has lots of elements in stock.
Specifically for kilns we have sold from showroom stock during the past few
years. Why the limitation? For several simple reasons. First
and foremost, Paragon hand makes all elements to order. Quickly makes all
elements to order. So we are reasonably assured of receiving elements for
older kilns fairly quickly which reduces the need to have an extensive selection
of elements on hand to support 20 or even 40 or 50 year old kilns.
Secondly, kilns sold to schools and production studios typically have a short
useful life. It is rare for a kiln in a school or production studio to
last 5, much less 10 or 20 years. Stocking elements for older, less common
kilns does not make much sense when the elements for those older kilns can be
quickly made to order. Bottom line, we stock elements for the model of
kilns typically sold from our showroom over the past few years and order any
older elements that might be needed.
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12590 Dedeaux Road
Gulfport Mississippi, 39503
Telephone (228) 831-4848 Fax (228) 831-3111
Showroom Business Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday 10AM to 5PM
Thursday 1PM to 6PM
Closed Wednesday and Sunday
Yes Dogwood Ceramic Supply repairs the Paragon kilns that WE sold. Dogwood Ceramic Supply provides warranty and non-warranty repairs of Paragon Kilns sold by Dogwood Ceramic Supply at our Gulfport Mississippi showroom.