Glass not clean, not creosote but white film

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pearlgirl

pearlgirl

Member
Nov 16, 2012
139
Syracuse, NY
I wondering if anyone has any thoughts on why our glass gets dirty with a white film? When the door is cool I am able to easily wipe it right off with a wet paper towel. It stays clean maybe for a day or so, and then builds back up again. It's not overly problematic, but we've been having other issues so wondering if it's indicative of anything that could be wrong? And we do prefer it clean obviously, so much prettier to look at! Any ideas?

Here is a photo where you can kind of see it. 100_3642-001.JPG
 
I get it too. Best thing I can find to keep it from happening is to keep the wood further back in the stove, farther away from the glass.

What I find happens is the splits out gas part way into the burn when things just start really taking off (about the time you'd start closing the air down) and initially coat the glass with a thin layer of soot. Later in the burn that gets burned off the glass, but leaves the white residue (a thin layer of ash) behind.

I seem to get less of it when burning with the wood E-W versus N-S

pen
 
My Fireview gets that too, but after a week or so of constant burning. I wipe it clean with wet paper towel every week or so.
 
White film happens, had it with both stoves I had. White don't bother me black is bad. What I find is toward the end of the burn cycle when it is in the coal cycle I rake the coals forward about 10 minutes before I reload and will take care of most of it. The air wash is an amazing advancement compared to the earlier days but it's not perfect.
 
It's just ash accumulation. No big deal. Happens in all our stoves. Requires no action. When it gets to where it bugs you, clean the inside of the window. There are a zillion ways to do that, and it's been the subject of uncounted threads here on Hearth.com, so I won't even presume to tell you how I clean mine. :rolleyes:
 
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Ok thanks! I won't worry about it then, and if we're having company I'll make sure I can get it wiped clean so we can show off the beautiful fire! :)
 
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There ya go. :cool:
 
pearlgirl said:
Ok thanks! I won't worry about it then
Click to expand...

Yeah, nothing to worry about...

pearlgirl said:
...and if we're having company I'll make sure I can get it wiped clean so we can show off the beautiful fire! :)
Click to expand...

Exactly what I do. A friend of mine from the east coast visited this past Thanksgiving. He was so impressed w/the flames and secondaries from my stove that he took photos and vids of it. Now that's flattering! :)
 
I have noticed a HUGE improvement with less white film on the glass since I insulated the flue. I think the air wash is much more effective with the better draft. It used to soot over after just a couple fires, now it remains clear for weeks and weeks of 24/7 burning.
 
fire_man said:
I have noticed a HUGE improvement with less white film on the glass since I insulated the flue. I think the air wash is much more effective with the better draft. It used to soot over after just a couple fires, now it remains clear for weeks and weeks of 24/7 burning.
Click to expand...

There has been questions about our draft, so I was wondering if this could be a symptom. Have a chimney guy coming out tomorrow, so we'll know more then, but I was curious if anyone would say some thing like this!
 
I get the same and believe it is soot/smoke film and easy to clean. The view of the fire is still good though..

Ray
 
I get less now that I switched to a 6" liner from an 8". I'm assuming because of a better draft.
 
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