Cracked Glass on Pellet Stove?

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LRRifleman

Member
Jan 25, 2011
58
southern New Jersey
Hello!

I have had my Regency GF55 Pellet Stove a few days more than a month. Earlier today, while cleaning the soot off the stove's glass, I discovered a crack in the front pane of the fire chamber's glass. I realize the fire chamber is supposed to be air-tight. I do have a CO sensor in the house, and it still shows "0" for CO ppm.

I have two questions:
1) Until the cracked glass is replaced, is it still safe to use the pellet stove? [Keeping in mind, I do have a CO sensor that indicates 0ppm of CO.]
2) Could the cracked glass be contributing to the high burn level of pellets? [To date, my stove has consumed approximately 42 forty pound bags of pellets in about 33 or 34 days.]

Thank you for your advice!
 
I would absolutely discontinue use of the stove until you have it repaired.

Your pellet usage seems pretty normal to me.
 
X2
I would not use it. If that glass fully fails it could be a real BIG problem.
 
You also need to figure how the glass got cracked also. If that glass breaks and those hot sparks or embers fly into the living area.....you could be paying a high price for little gain.
 
Describe the crack. The "glass" is not a silicate product like window glass, but a high temperature ceramic. I saw a stove glass that looked cracked, but it was a aclusion (sp), fancy name for a flaw. Apparently occuring when it was poured. It did not affect the stability of the piece, just made it different. If it's a flake and stable, order the glass and have the dealer rush it, but burn the stove at lower settings while you are there. You don't need to worry about CO seeping out, the air would be drawn from your room into the stove. If you are uneasy about using the stove, don't push it. Location and type of break would determine whether or not it might open up, but you need to describe the problem a little better.
 
Thank you.

THE "crack":
As you are facing the stove, the crack is in the lower left hand corner of the "front" glass pane.
The "crack" starts near the lower left hand corner, and arcs about 3" to the right of the left side of the crack.
The height of the crack "arc" is no more than 1" above the base of the crack line.
"Glass" is not yet "falling" from the pane.
It looks much like a seam between two pieces of glass that are placed together on end.
For much of the time, the stove has been operated at the lowest constant feed temperature setting, and only for an hour or so at at time on maybe 3 occassions has it been operated at temperature setting 2 (out of 5).

Hopefully, this description of the crack is helpful.
 
It sounds like a simple aesthetic issue, and not one of safety. My Whitfield has a crack near the bottom of the left pane and it could be decades old. A glass crack is insignificant as far as allowing air to enter the stove from someplace other than the blower. It can't compare to a leaking gasket, and even that won't make any visible difference in the flame, as I discovered with mine. It might have been caused by cold water from a child's wet hand or a spilled drink or maybe the glass was cut just a hair too large and when it heated and expanded it didn't have enough space to expand. You'll probably never know. Too overcome your concerns about safety, you should run it hot for a time while you're present. If it doesn't crack further, then it probably isn't ever going to inexplicable fall apart. Glass doesn't just fall out of frames. Like windows, it probably has some kind of sticky caulk or putty to seal it tightly.
 
Pictures or it doesn't exist!

I would still err to the side of caution, especially if you have another heat source.
 
Hi!

Principle of the matter ... the pellet stove is new and it needs to be made right.

Reality of the matter ... I do not know how the glass cracked, nor how it will react with further heat build up. I do know that neither of my children nor the dog "touched" the stove, because of the safety gate. I know I did not "hit" the stove with anything, or have the stove hit anything. What I do know, is that the pane IS broken, and with the kids and the dog (not to mention myself) I can not risk that the glass will not shatter like an IED. I am too scarred from an MVA, and I can not jeopardize the kids.

The pellet stove was purchased as a supplement to the gas heat, which was turned on last night for the first time in about 34 days. Hopefully the stove will be repaired quickly!
 
1: NO, you are playing with fire. Not the correct, safe, or sane thing to do.

In fact check your manual.
 
By shutting down the pellet stove, and reverting to the gas furnace, how am I playing with fire and being unsafe?

As an aside, I comic book tends to be more informative than the owner's manual that came with the stove.
 
LRRifleman said:
By shutting down the pellet stove, and reverting to the gas furnace, how am I playing with fire and being unsafe?

My comment was for the folks who seem to think it is ok to fire that pellet stove with a cracked glass in it question 1 of your original post.
 
I'd replace it.

I have purchased Ceramic Glass for a different application from these guys.

http://www.us.schott.com/hometech/english/products/robax/index.html

They used to be based in RI and made stove/fireplace ceramic glass.
I was buying 10"x10"x1/8" high temp work trays that I could use from workbench to oven.
5 years ago they were $27.00 each. Last I checked they were in the $75 range.

I have called them recently (about a year ago) and was told they will sell retail.

Good Luck,

---Nailer---
 
@ Nailer,

Thank you ... I will keep that in mind. However, this stove is barely a month old, and is stillunder warranty.
For what I paid for the stove and a butcher job installation, the dealer is going to make good on this!

Ed
 
LR - that cracked glass should be covered under warranty (considering your stove is barely older than a month old), unless it was broken due to some sort of consequential damage (i.e. someone threw a baseball at it). Otherwise, it could be a legitimate manufacturer's defect. Operating the stove with cracked glass is both unsafe and unwise. Contact your dealer or the manufacturer, get them to overnight you a new part. Be demanding, you paid a good deal of hard-earned cash to purchase something that you and your family will rely on for heat, there is no excuse for the vendor or manufacturer to keep you waiting or expect you to pay anything for the glass replacement.
 
@ Chris,

Thanks. Stopped by the store where I bought it and was really educated this morning.
I was informed that the glass was covered under warranty; however, the regional distribution is out of stock, and does not anticipate it in stock until next friday ... that is Friday in February.
When I then asked that whomever repairs it NOT be the lead guy on the installation, I found he will soon be history because of his tendency to misrepresent the business and taking shortcuts.
Upon return from the store and taking my son to daycare, I took a closer look at the glass and it is completely cracked through. I am most definitely happy I chose to clean the glass last night before dinner, which only leads me to wonder, how long it was cracked!

To all ... is it common for the pellet ashes to collect and "drift" along the door, and NOT drop through to the ash bin? Apparently, the crack was "hidden" by the "drifting" ashes and the soot that collected on the firebox side of the stove.

Thanks to all!
Ed
 
Ed,

The ashes will go all over the firebox area. The stove tries to pull them up and out, but they follow the laws of physics.

Once out of the influence of the exhaust fan they start to fall.
 
LRR,

I hope you are not misunderstanding my comments. By all means get the glass replaced, ASAP. The issue is not to panic, you can , in my opinion burn the stove, just don't stress the panel with excessive heating. Low or medium settings should be OK. Ceram is not like window glass, as far as my experience goes it does not shatter, it will crack, but it sounds like it's contained in a corner. As far as falling out, the gasket around the edge will stop that, even in the extreme.

KY intention was to put your mind at ease about your stove. I work with lots of glass in one of my "hats" in business. Wrapped unstressed glass shelving has a mysterious ability to crack. I don't know why, but a simple bump in handling, A jam into a frame, a slip against another plate will start a stress type crack in 3/8th glass that may take a month or more to work to the surface. I may have been in the manufacturing process the glass was damaged, and should be replaced. Your dealer shouldn't even raise an eyebrow. If he's a good guy and doesn't stock a piece, he may take it out of a floor model. Give him a break by asking when you can bring the door in to get it fixed., They just lift off the pins, usually, your stove may be different, but the dealer can tell you how. A five minute job in shop is an hour or more in the home.

No one's at fault, it's just one of those things.
 
Out of stock, you are not the only one with cracked glass.
 
About the safety of the cracked glass, aside from stove glass not being ordinary glass (perhaps it's "safety glass" or "tempered" glass or something even more exceptional like ceramic glass) it should be noted that the pressure inside the burn chamber is negative pressure so the interior suction is pulling on the glass, not pushing on it. Also, it's unreasonable to assume that fumes could pass through the crack since both sides of the crack are probably un-separated, and anyway the direction of air would be to move into the stove, not out of it. It would be interesting to hear any theory about exactly how the crack constitutes a safety issue. I can't think of one though it's easy to let ones imagination assume the worst possible scenario even though it doesn't reflect reality. But my stove experience is barely more than one month of use, so I'm curious about any stories of similar situations that went bad, and how it happened. Anyone have any theories or stories to share? I know enough to know that there's a lot I don't know, so knowledge is always preferable to the presumptions of common sense.
 
arnash said:
About the safety of the cracked glass, aside from stove glass not being ordinary glass (perhaps it's "safety glass" or "tempered" glass or something even more exceptional like ceramic glass) it should be noted that the pressure inside the burn chamber is negative pressure so the interior suction is pulling on the glass, not pushing on it. Also, it's unreasonable to assume that fumes could pass through the crack since both sides of the crack are probably un-separated, and anyway the direction of air would be to move into the stove, not out of it. It would be interesting to hear any theory about exactly how the crack constitutes a safety issue. I can't think of one though it's easy to let ones imagination assume the worst possible scenario even though it doesn't reflect reality. But my stove experience is barely more than one month of use, so I'm curious about any stories of similar situations that went bad, and how it happened. Anyone have any theories or stories to share? I know enough to know that there's a lot I don't know, so knowledge is always preferable to the presumptions of common sense.


Whooaaa!!! take a deep breathe. You are absolutely correct in the logic. You are now anointed Number ! logic corrector. Don't qualify your stove experience, no one else does. You are right and should be proud of your post, just use few lines and get out :roll:
 
You never operate a stove with a cracked, broken, or missing fire box door glass.

This has nothing to do with a negative firebox pressure, presence or absence of any detectors regardless of type, your opinion, your logic, or anything else.

You have a compromised firebox enclosure.

Even that crack can be made into an opening that can allow the burning contents out of the firebox.

If the folks that run these lovely little devices can allow things to build up to this point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AORyO_rEpo&feature=related what do you think would happen if the cerra glass is cracked?
 
"Even that crack can be made into an opening that can allow the burning contents out of the firebox."

I'd sure like to hear an explanation of how that is possible. Maybe the makers of the glass or the makers of the doors could come up with some fact that would confirm that opinion, but until then, I wouldn't presume that the glass is not firmly fixed in the door and not subject to pieces falling out just because it has a crack. But even if a piece of glass fell in (it can't fall out) and some embers escaped, if ones floor is not flammable (wool, cotton carpet) then what's to fear? Many people have cold linoleum or tile or hardwood floors that are impervious to little embers. It's not anything like an open fireplace or wood stove that can shoot out hot pieces like popcorn. Wood pellets don't pop.

Also, there probably isn't much of a different in stress on the glass when it's cold and not in use and when it's hot, considering that the glass expands, due to heat, at the same rate as the door, they expand together so that prevents stress. Hot or cold, there isn't a lot of difference. And lumping a crack in with broken or missing glass doesn't make as much sense as it seems, after all, it's a no-brainer that broken or missing glass is absolutely a a situation that renders the stove unsafe to use. But I don't believe that that can be said of a crack since the glass can't just separate or fall out. Or so I assume, does anyone know different?
 
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