%$^$% Dirty Glass...WTH?!

[pen]

I'd assume that 1/8-1/4 of the way is WAY more than 1/4 of an inch, that said, with the air being open that far, I'm surprised at the build-up you are seeing if those temps are consistent.

Try the dollar bill test in conjunction w/ the flat edge as BB mentioned. It'd say it'd be normal to have a 1/2 dollar sized area in the bottom corners consistently, but I agree that this darkened area is far larger than I'd expect also.

pen

 

[rdust]

And Blaze Kings shouldn't have glass in the door in the first place. If ya can't enjoy looking at the fire, put a wood furnace in the basement.

Now now, always picking on the BK. I can always see the fire in mine until I turn it down and the flames go out. I get to see the flames again when I reload 24 hours later.

 

[BrotherBart]

Now now, always picking on the BK. I can always see the fire in mine until I turn it down and the flames go out. I get to see the flames again when I reload 24 hours later.

From what Nate says, if you can see through the glass of a Blaze King you ain't doing it right.

 

[rdust]

From what Nate says, if you can see through the glass of a Blaze King you ain't doing it right.

Nate burns his low since his house can be heated with candles!

I have to burn mine hotter so the glass stays cleaner. When it was cold I only had soot in the lower corners and it would burn off on the next reload. Now it's pretty nasty after a low burn but cleans up decent on the reload. Of course I only see flames for a half hour or so before I turn it down so it really doesn't matter much BUT if I wanted to see flames I could.

 

[Hickorynut]

I have had a lopi freedom for several years and I have gotten dirty glass since day one. I know the wood is good and dry and the door isn't leaking any air. The only way I can keep clean glass is to keep the air control open pretty far. I think it might be a design flow. From what I read here the lopi's aren't the best performers. My burn times aren't that great either 3 to 4 hours at most. I just clean off with wet paper towel and ashes occasionally. However, my old stove would blacken up in a day or so where you would need a razor blade to get the soot off. Not a perfect world for sure.

 

[Hogwildz]

Are you loading north to south? If so, how long are the splits? If they are closer than 2 or 3" from the glass, this will haze the glass up quickly do to off gassing out the ends of the splits against the glass. Otherwise, not so dry wood is always a culprit.

 

[eclecticcottage]

n/s loading...usually a few inches back, but it's not haze, it's dirt, like can't see through it.

Tried the dollar bill test and it passed. Couldn't locate a straight edge to try that yet.

 

[Hogwildz]

The glass will go black at times if the splits are close to the glass. But any black, soot, etc. should burn off as the stove reaches upper temps. I try not to load past the front lower plate. But sometimes I will load up on top of it and the splits will darken the glass, but will burn off ad it reaches upper temps. If this is not your problem, I can only guess wood may not be as dry as it could be, not sure about draft issues either. Out of ideas at the moment.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

As backwood savage said it is true some stoves soot up the glass more than others, depends a lotr on draft strength and stove design,some stoves have more forceful air wash system over the glass,those tend to stay cleaner. My Englander 30 stove glass gets sooty almost daily.
While a stove i have been testing, a country hearth 2000, sits right next to it and have yet to clean the glass after 1 month.

 

[oldspark]

Huh,I thought most of the new stoves (except for the Blaze King) did not get the glass dirty unless something was wrong, the Summit seems to do a very good job in this respect.

 

[Realstone]

Huh,I thought most of the new stoves (except for the Blaze King) did not get the glass dirty unless something was wrong, the Summit seems to do a very good job in this respect.

They shoulda gotta Jotul. Sometimes I have to poke the glass with a stick to assure myself it is still there

 

[eclecticcottage]

Ok, I wanted to burn a couple times just to be sure, but it seems we found the culprit this time around (the door gasket COULD have been the original issue). Let me first say, the scariest thing about this is that the dealer will keep in business off the name of the place for a good while, since there's no way most people who dealt with the original owners would know it's been sold. Had we known, I'm not sure we would even be burning a Lopi at this time-might have a Vermont Castings Dutch West cat.

So anyway...I did a reload a while back and was sitting in front of the stove as it got going. I don't know how we missed this before, but I'm going with the fact that when there's no fire it's like a black hole in there and neither of us would have thought to look "up" anyway. The guy that cleaned the stack didn't get the bracket that goes above/around the top of the front most air tube in right after taking it out to clean. Hence, not only was that thrown off, but so were the firebricks that sit on it. It was sitting high and to the front on the handle side.

We still get a bit of dirt/haze in that corner, but you can see through it now, it's not completely black. Hate to say it, but it just might be the stove to some extent.

Funny sidenote-I told DH about the BK Sirocco. In a few years, assuming the clearances work on it, we might replace the Lopi for one. Love those burn times, and finally a BK stove that doesn't look like...well...a BK stove! For now though, we at least sussed out one of the annoying aspects of the Lopi and it does have respectible burn times (we've gotten 12 hours, but typically it's more like 8-10 depending on the fuel type and amount-I don't usually run true full loads).

 

[Kevin Dolan]

Aside from the advice you've already been given, I'd just add to that the need to check your holding clips/brackets for the glass itself. The glass should be gasketed, of course, just like the door is. I had an issue on my stove glass and the fix was to tighten the clips/brackets. Since they were already clamped down as tight as possible, I had to remove the clips and bend them slightly downward before reattaching them. You don't want to overdo that, of course, but a slight tweak might just do the job.

Wade i have the same stove as you and have only had it for four months. some mornings it is dirty so i just take a warm cloth diped in 50 % vinegar and water and in 30 seconds it is bright and clean again. have to admit as i am getting more used to the stove the unit itself when burning "properly", seems to do the job on its own. Can youu get your stove to burn overnight to easily start in the am and do you have to clean out your ashes twice a week? Sorry for the questions but would appreciate any input.
Kevin