Pacific Energy question

begreen said:

Welcome to the forums David. It could be that the wood may be less than ideal and the fire is burning cooler. What type of wood are you burning this year? If this is the case, try burning with a bit more air on startup. Get the stovetop up to 3-400F before starting to turn down the air control.

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yup

Although your problem seems to be more severe, I would also check the door gasket with the dollar bill test. Put a dollar bill between door and (cold) stove, close the latch and see if you can pull it out. If it comes out with little to no resistance you should think about replacing the gasket. Check also whether the seal between the glass and the door is still tight.

As above. Probably a shoulder/intermittent burning observation with not totally seasoned wood

I had this issue during my first fall of burning with our Super 27. Sometimes the bottom of the glass would have the black, sticky stuff that dried as hard as rock. During the winter, it was less of problem. Now that I have dry wood, I rarely had to clean more than a brown or black film from the glass. I also try to keep the air open far enough to avoid a lot of smoke during the start up. Using a damp rag with ash works better for me than glass cleaner.

My stove did that last year cause i had to burn wet wood this year the glass stays clean even on start up.

I would advise checking the gasket just to make sure that is not the cause.

Check to see if your primary air is plugged with ash. Just under the door take off the primary air cover and clean that area out.

David Kalaski said:

I have a three year old PE Spectrum that has been outstanding since new. This year during the first two burns the glass was blacked out completeley on start up and then gradually cleared and stayed clear for the rest of the burn. It seems like the air wash system is not working on start up. Any suggestions?
David

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IMO, you need to get the fire going as quickly as possible, with a lot of air. Take two quarter logs and put them ends toward the door at both sides of the fire box. Cut some small spits to line the space betwen the logs, no more than half inch thick. Put your fire starter on the lining pieces. Take some pieces of 6 x 1/2 x 1/2 and build a log cabin style 6-8 inches high. Light the starter. Put a split which is about 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 across the two quarter logs, and in front of the log cabin starter. Start it with the door open, then close the door with the draft on high for about 2 minutes, then open the door for about 30 seconds, do one more cycle or so. Always keep the door closed at the end of any of these door open-door closed cycles. The 6 inch splits with turn into coals very quickly, and the wood lining and wood sides of the "starter bowl" will start burning right away. You will go into secondary burn within 10 minutes of start up. When the 6 inch log cabin starts to turn into coals, put 1/8 splits which are 2 x 2's or 2 x 3's, ends facing the glass on top of the cross piece that you put on. When the cross piece burns down, then continue to put the pieces on with the ends facing the door as PE recommends. Any time you want to boost the air under the fire, put a cross piece in the front, but never more than a 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 piece.

This will also work when you have less that really dry wood to get things started really fast, and really hot.