JohnnyO Posted January 17, 2022 Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 Hello I an very new to pottery and have been taking classes with my wife for about 4 months now. We have an opportunity to get an older paragon kiln and I'm wondering if it is worth the investment. In all my research I can only find information on models A99B and nothing even remotely mentioning a model B99B. Can anyone tell me what is the difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted January 17, 2022 Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 I think it’s likely an A100b which is an A99b with a top extension ring. This manual https://paragonweb.com/wp-content/uploads/IM5-A-and-B-Paragon-Inst-Man-Jan2017.pdf references all A and B models but does not list any B models so the name likely changed to A100 after they printed this or never re-titled the manual. I would call paragon but I believe you will find the A99b schematic with a top ring will apply. The only kilns I see in their printed materials are the A-99b & A-100b @ 10,612 watts. Careful this kiln most likely requires 240v, single phase a full sized neutral and separate ground. So 120/240 - 3 wire with a separate ground bonded to its shell. I do not see additional pictures, you might want to be sure of the general structural condition of the kiln, bricks, lid and bottom …….. and elements wear out after 100-150 firings if you fire to cone 6. You may want to price replacements just to be ready if this does not have fairly new elements in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyO Posted January 18, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 Hi Bill, I have read many of your posts before I joined this community and appreciate your knowledge and experience. I called paragon shortly after posting this and the lady told me it is exactly the same as the A-99B except one had a timer and one didn't although she was not sure which one had it. As far as the rest of it goes... ( I do not have pictures but going of memory) the bricks are in fairly good shape with only one that is chipped, the shell seems complete and not rusted. I have not checked the bottom to see its condition. The controls are all intact and supposedly it worked 5 years ago( but I'm sure they all did right). The bottom elements appear to cost $98 and I have not found a price on the top elements. It has been sitting outside for the last 5 years so I'm sure that will play a factor but the only reason I'm considering it is the person selling it said I can bring it home to test the elements and if it does not work she will refund my money. She is in my class at the studio where we have lessons and seems trustworthy. She's asking $250. I am an Electrician by trade and have been programming and developing Industrial Control systems for the past 6 years. Since getting into pottery I have done some repairs for the owner of the studio which has included repairing their kilns. This seems like something I can fix however, I'm a little leery though as I do not want to get something that I will dump more money into than its worth just because I think I can do it. Would you say this is worth the possible investment? Ideally I would like to upgrade it to a digital controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 If the bricks are in good condition, buy it. Wiring is cheap. You can probably get elements for half that price from Euclids.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 I think you will be fine. As an electrician this stuff is pretty simple and adding a modern day control is likely very easy for you too. I was an electrician at 18 yrs old and returned to school for engineering several years later. The electrician part has served me really really well over the last 40 years for sure. You can find a Bartlett V6Cf for 200-300 bucks and your ability to add relays and control wiring might even turn this into an updated automatic kiln. Knowing that, if it’s in good structural condition sounds like you have plenty of options ……. And if you are doing controls you have lots more options. Example: simple PLC we created to track gas firings, reduction etc… kilns will end up simple for you I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyO Posted January 18, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 Thank you both. I will say my interest in kilns started with the idea of finding an old shell and putting my own PLC controlled system on it but that is a farther down the line project it seems. the cost of the PLC I wanted and a small touchscreen would put me over $600 so I'm going to start with a Bartlett Genesis to get us up and going. Actually that is how I found this forum, a post with someone putting a rasberry pi on a kiln to track firings where bill mentioned his PLC controlled kilns to track firings. I still have much to learn about the whole firing process as far as ramp times/rates , hold time etc. so I am sure you will hear more from me in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 21 minutes ago, JohnnyO said: I'm going to start with a Bartlett Genesis to get us up and going. The Genesis is a fabulous controller. Building a wall-mount box system is very simple. If you build it with a 50 amp relay you can use it for just about any studio-size kiln. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted January 18, 2022 Report Share Posted January 18, 2022 The cheapest I could find a headless hmi is Cmore at about 450.00. Add monitor, mouse etc…. Hard to get the cost down. Bartlett makes ready made and their touch screen is about 360.00. Add three relays, control transformer, tcouples, mounting. and wiring probably can squeeze this down to 400.00- 500.00. Best thing about it, PIDS are all set for cone fire. It’s plug and play. Hard to beat that price actually. If you go SSR, talk to me, have sourcing you may want for for very economical heat sinks, SSR, control transformer etc…. Cooling was designed at 100 ambient - passive, no fan required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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