Black glass

black glass almost always means wet wood. are you burning a newer epa style stove?

Not true, dirty glass could be from a few things. I most always from wet wood. Or if you have a Blaze King! :lol:

If the glass turns black it could mean a few things, many times it is not properly seasoned wood. If this is something you are experiencing, then there are quite a few things that would help diagnos the problem.

What stove?
How tall is your chimney?
How many bends, are they 90's or are they 45's?
How well is your wood seasoned, when was it split, what type of wood?

This is a good start I would think.

Shawn

my glass soots up a little but when I get the stove hot enough it starts to clear the glass. I have a Jotul Oslo with about 13' 7" of connecter pipe and chimney.

Just burning low causes it. I've never had really clean glass on my stove. I stopped worrying about it.

People have a lotta strange ideas out there. In the last two weeks I have heard that "you can't have any elbows in the stove pipe, I won't draw at all" and "we never burn walnut, it's full of creosote" I actually have heard that twice this week!

I had black glass when I first installed my Keystone. I had never had a woodstove with a glass, much less one with a huge glass across the entire front of the stove. Most said my wood was crap, I thought the stove's airwash only had enough to keep the center of it clear. Turns out my major problem was draft. I went from a clay lined 6.5 inch ID square flue to a 6 inch ID round SS flue with 1/2 insulation wrap - my stove was transformed into a great wood burner. The ENTIRE glass burned clear and stayed that way. Ocassionaly I would wipe off some fly ash. This chimney ain't that tall either.

Soooo - is your problem the wood, could be. You can get a cheap moisture meter from Lowes for about $20 and check your wood. If your wood is OK, then you may have draft problems.

Also, don't forget, draft changes with the weather. The colder outside, the better the draft.

Good luck,
Bill

Mine will stay night and clean if I keep the air control up, but the house would be 100*+ if I did that. I'd rather have black glass and not sweat in my house... plus waste wood.

Chrism said:

i guess thats like alot of guys on the east coast tell you to stay away from pine it will cause chimney fires. i just dont understand why guys on the east coast wont touch pine

Click to expand...

It's just another of those old wives tales that gets passed down from generation to generation. Most folks don't like to think a lot so they just take it as truth. After all, those old time wood burners really know, don't they?!

I have a few thousand pines here but we're trying to get someone in to chip them. I'd burn them but really do not need them as we have plenty of hardwoods to cut. Still cutting dead white ash from the beetle damage and that burns a lot longer than pine.

I too have the nasty glass issue. Burning good wood, all gaskets good and I seem to have decent draft. However, my chimney is minimal, only 12'. Would adding maybe a 2' section to the chimney make any noticeable difference? The stove performs well, just the annoying glass issue.

This comes up here every year at the beginning of the burning season and most of the problem is sluggish shoulder season draft. I get it too this time of year and as it gets colder out the glass clears up.

Chrism said:

i guess thats like alot of guys on the east coast tell you to stay away from pine it will cause chimney fires. i just dont understand why guys on the east coast wont touch pine

Click to expand...

Well for one reason we are loaded down with Oaks. Maples, Locust, what very little pine I have I cut in real small pieces for kindling.

As far as the 16' of chimney goes, does that mean actual chimney or does it include stove pipe? For instance, I have about 5' of double wall stove pipe up to my ceiling, then 15' of Class A - all of it straight shot, no bends. Is that 15' of chimney or 20' ?

Unseasoned wood . . . not burning hot enough . . . bad gasket . . . bad draft during the shoulder season . . . the Soot Monster is inside your stove . . . you have split wood vertically instead of horizontally . . . OK, I made up the last two reasons.

My problem was not so seasoned wood and trying to burn it slow.

joecool85 said:

As far as the 16' of chimney goes, does that mean actual chimney or does it include stove pipe? For instance, I have about 5' of double wall stove pipe up to my ceiling, then 15' of Class A - all of it straight shot, no bends. Is that 15' of chimney or 20' ?

Click to expand...

I think some appliance manufacturers measure from the hearth to daylight, and others from the floor of the firebox to daylight. In any case, you're a little better than 20'. Rick

Chrism said:

a guy told me that if you have a wood stove and the glass turns black, that means the chimney isnt high enough . He said it should be 16' at least . how true is that ??

Click to expand...

Did he also tell you about his abduction by aliens? :ahhh:

fossil said:

joecool85 said:

As far as the 16' of chimney goes, does that mean actual chimney or does it include stove pipe? For instance, I have about 5' of double wall stove pipe up to my ceiling, then 15' of Class A - all of it straight shot, no bends. Is that 15' of chimney or 20' ?

Click to expand...

I think some appliance manufacturers measure from the hearth to daylight, and others from the floor of the firebox to daylight. In any case, you're a little better than 20'. Rick

Click to expand...

Good deal. I knew I was fine because my stove requires 15', and I have that no matter how you look at it.