30nc doghouse

I've been trying to figure out why the glass is sooting up so bad on my stove so I been experimenting a little. The glass always gets sooty and the center always seems worse, kind of a v shape. I noticed last night when the door was closed quickly with the dog house plugged that ash was being blown up on the side closest to the door. Tonight I took the doghouse off and the ears where the screws are were bent down so this made about an 1/8" under it. I flattened the ears out and put a small bead of sealant under it so there is no leaks now. I don't have a clue as to how this got bent. Anyway it's sealed up now an so far the glass is staying cleaner. I'm just guessing here that the primary air was coming down and the doghouse air was pushing up making for no air movement on the glass. We'll see once I can run the stove harder. It's too warm to run it very hard right now.

CenterTree said:

^ What Bart said ^

Leave a little gap (if loading N/S) between the splits that sit directly at the doghouse. That air flow is needed for a cleaner glass.

What type of "Sealant" did you use in there??

Click to expand...

I always leave a gap or make a v shape so nothing is in front of the doghouse and nothing really worked that was noticeable. I'll be able to fire it up again tonight and report back on the results. I used 800 deg. automotive silicone from O'reillys.

sportbikerider78 said:

Could it be that you are burning some wet wood?

Click to expand...

Nope. The wood is mostly oak and maple from 5 years ago. It's so dry the the stove temps will get out of hand in a hurry if not watched closely.

CenterTree said:

What do you mean, "with the doghouse plugged"?

I notice on mine that if I closed the primary the whole way, I will get dark glass towards the middle to end of the burn cycle.
If I leave the air open (even just a tad) I will have clean glass.
You may need to use the fan to keep your STT down to a manageable level though.

PS: I don't imagine that 800degree silicon is gonna last too long in there.

Click to expand...

Well, I've run about 6 loads so far and the glass stays much cleaner with not much haze at all. Also the secondary burn is much easier to maintain. I think the cooler air from behind the doghouse was mixing with the primary that comes down the glass. I don't think the silicone will burn off because there is always cool air coming up from the bottom and even if it does it won't matter much. I didn't really need the sealer now that it sets flat but it was just an extra measure.