pictures of glass on an insert after a day or so?

If the wood is dry and the glass is getting blackened it sounds like you're burning at too low of a temp. What temps are you operating the stove at? Tell us more about the chimney set up and how you burn the stove. What type of wood are you burning? Just for kicks when was the wood cut/split/stacked?

My last stove was a non cat and every few weeks I'd wipe the fly ash off the glass, if a log ever got too close and blackened the glass it would burn off on the next fire.

I do not have a Voyager but I am sure it is not the norm. If it is not the wood you may have a draft problem. Are you doing your startups with the door open? Do you get a good fire going before closing the door? What happens afterwards? Does it get noticeable lower? When do you start turning down the air and how quickly? Do you have a stove thermometer?

Again, what are your stove temperatures? What does the fire look like? What are your air controls set at?

If your loading the wood in, and it is say closer than 2 or 3 inches to the glass. It will off gas against the glass and dirty it.
You may also not be burning hot enough &/or setting your intake air too low.
It will take some time to get to know your stove and how to get it to operate to it's peak performance. Be patient and lean the stove.

Hi Mary no matter what stove you burn the glass will get a little dirty/smoky or may show white burn dust/residue. Now black glass can indicate either too slow a burn or unseasoned wood.

If you burned kiln-dried wood at most the glass should have just tinted over lite enough so that you could read a newspaper through that glass.

Without knowing more I'd advise burning smaller splits, hotter. There's a learning curve with new stoves so don't get discouraged. Keep in mind that no matter how good these stoves look they are still a primitive heat source and require our hands on tweaking to work at peak performance.

Mary Oliver said:

I tried their recommendation -- to burn some kiln-dried wood. Same problem exactly.

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Maybe the kiln dried wood wasn't. There is a lot of heat treated wood being passed off as kiln dried. They cook it in a kiln to kill the bugs, not to dry it.

When I dirty up the glass it is because of operator error, namely turning down the air too much at the wrong time, otherwise it stays clean for days on end.

I'm with LLigetfa on the kiln dried wood. I've seen some over the last couple years that I definitely would burn only in an outdoor fire because it was full of moisture. If wood is truly dry, it is very rare to get any black on the glass. The only time we got black glass was during initial burn-in fires. Since then we only get fly ash on the glass and don't have to clean it but a couple times per year.

Mary the air wash system on my stove starts working real good when the outside temperature is below 20 F and when I have a really hot fire. January/February should be clean glass situations for you.

I've seen stores around here leave their kiln dried wood outside...in the rain/snow. Negating the whole drying thing.

I have a free standing stove, Lopi republic, and the only times I get dirty glass are when I damp down too much too soon, if a log is right up against it (literally touching it or just about, a few inches back is fine) , or if a log is tight against the side and the gases can't circulate.

eclecticcottage said:

I've seen stores around here leave their kiln dried wood outside...in the rain/snow. Negating the whole drying thing.

I have a free standing stove, Lopi republic, and the only times I get dirty glass are when I damp down too much too soon, if a log is right up against it (literally touching it or just about, a few inches back is fine) , or if a log is tight against the side and the gases can't circulate.

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No it doesn't. Getting rain and snow on dry wood does not make it 'wet' again. It is only surface moisture.

No photo . . . but I generally just get a bit of fly ash . . . light gray or brown specks on the glass . . . you can still see the fire very clearly, but the glass isn't crystal clear.

If you're getting black you typically have one or more of the following issues (which were all mentioned earlier in various threads.)

1) Unseasoned wood.
2) The air control is being closed too much or too soon.
3) The fire is not hot enough to run properly.
4) The wood is too close or has fallen against the glass and is impeding the air wash.
5) There is an air leak in the seal around the glass.

My manual states that a darkened glass is a normal part of the low burn process (downdraft stove). As long as the combustion package is burning the smoke, then the pipe will be clean, but the glass won't. My stove has no air wash, BTW, and maybe that's the difference..
This isn't scrape off with a razor type stuff. Just a dark haze that will burn away with the next hot fire.

This thread was originally started here:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php?ACT=24&fid=2&aid=66531_Ah0Yq98xFUKrGVbUD1vU&board_id=1

Mary's glass looks like this:

Looks really dirty to me. I usually don't have to clean my glass at all, just burn a hot fire... When i do get a few spots like yours, it's because I'm using unseasoned wood that's about 1/2 in close to the glass, but that just burns off in the next load.

Mary Oliver said:

Wow, I need to thank you guys for the wonderful advice. So today it finally got cool, and for the first time it was okay! I'm thinking it might have been something with the air flow. No new wood; no new technique -- but nice! Secondary combustion in a beautiful way.

TV?? What?? Why do that when there's a fire. This is what I've been waiting for.

Thanks for helping me to be more patient -- your advice was helpful.

Mary

Click to expand...

I'm glad you have it sorted out a bit. It has been unseasonably warm in SE PA. Hopefully it was just a draft issue and a learning curve with a new stove.

Mary, I an somewhat new at this, so I just discovered the difference between burning in cool weather and burning in COLD weather, too!

My glass was getting a little brown on it, usually along the very bottom, but when I got the fire going last night (in the 30's), a bit of whitish and amber residue formed initially, but as the burn got better, it disappeared. This morning the glass was clear.

You guys are a font of info--thanks!

Good that things seem to work out for you now. I can relate to not needing a TV anymore. Nevertheless, I think your draft is still not optimal. You mentioned you have a 20 to 25 ft lined chimney in the other thread. Thus, draft should not be a problem for you once the stove is hot. Unless your home is tightly airsealed I suspect the stove does not get up to temp. Maybe invest in a stovethermometer or an IR gun (Harbor Freight sells them often for $20). It helped me a lot in figuring out how to run my insert correctly and it will enable you to enjoy your stove even in the shoulder season.

Burningchunk,
How would you use the gun? Do you aim it inside the firebox? What should the temp be?

You want to take the temp of the stove not the fire! For a freestanding stove I think the top is usually the place to aim for but other people here can tell you better than I. With an insert, as I have, it is a bit more tricky. I found the hottest spot to be right over the door in the center for my PE Super. I learned that in the beginning I barley touched the 400 F there although I thought I was burning just fine. Now, I use better wood, wait longer with reducing the air and easily get the stove up to 550 to 600. At that time the air is closed or almost closed depending on the wood I am burning. The heat it is putting out is much better, the glass stays clean and the chimney looks good, too.

I wish the manufacturers would tell the best spot to check the temp; they should definitively know. The advantage of the IR gun is you can read spots where you cannot attach a thermometer plus it is also good to check for leaks in the house.

Thanks, gotta get me one.
You are right, the insert is better than TV. Of course, that's not saying much... :lol: