Dirty Glass

[Chris04626]

IS that caused by too much air or not enough usually?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

IS that caused by too much air or not enough usually?

Yes either can cause it the color will be different, also there will be some build up on the glass regardless of what you do.

It happens when the temperature of the glass is below the condensation point of any of the many combustion byproduct compounds.

 

[imacman]

IS that caused by too much air or not enough usually?

Typically, the lower temp burn results in the glass getting darkest, fastest. Higher fuel feeds with proper air result in hotter burns and slower glass build-up.

 

[geek]

chris, also some stoves perform better than others based on their air wash system.
My previous unit was a PIA no matter what settings i used, my new Napoleon is way much better in that perspective, there are some even better units out there, enviro?, so again the design of the unit also contributes to that factor and of course what smokey and mac mentioned.

..

 

[forya]

I notice that with my Harman accentra insert I will only get any real buildup if I don't scrape the burn pot enough, and the flames get lazy and actually lick the glass. also I noticed that when my door seal wasn't working properly I had some dirty glass

 

[save$]

With my Napoleon, I get a 6 in band of light ash that wipes right off with paper towel. Usually, I do this on day 3. I have found that with the air open and the burn on med or higher, there is less ash. This year I don't have any ash in the burn pot. Maybe a little coating of dust, but nothing else. What is new this year is that I am burning a new ton of Athens, and I have installed OAK. My habit is to shut the stove down on day 3, let it cool off about 2 hrs, then use a paint brush to dust the entire inside off while running a shop vac right near the brush at all times. I have bouts of Asthma, but never bothered when I clean the stove this way. There is a big ash bin in the bottom of the stove, but I don't have to empty that until 20 or so bags have burned. There have been multiple entries on keeping a stove clean to maintain good function. I don't know if the dirty glass lessens heat radiation, (I have been told any layer of ash insulates) but clean glass looks better, and if it lets more heat through, the effort is well worth it.

 

[woodsman23]

Usally by day 2 you will see some buildup on the glass on whatever stove you are using. The lower the setting the higher the glass will begin to soot up. It should be a light whitest brown and when left to run say 4-6 days it will turn a darker brown. The best thing to do is open the door and wipe it every 2 days but if it is hot don't use any kind of liquid on it or you risk cracking the glass, just dip the wipe in some ashes and clean the glass.

 

[vgrund]

I don't bother with cleaning the glass before I clean my whole stove. In fact the glass is a good dead reckoning indicator for when to clean the stove (but I still always count bags).

 

[vvvv]

leaky door or window gasket can be cause. = cool glass attracts hot soot. lack of combustion air may soot the glass but i think it makes for more room heat [ vs out the exhaust]

 

[nosaudioil]

I clean the glass with minimal water and a few paper towels during the Saturday stove clean up. Never a problem.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

I agree with pretty much everythingmn thats been said so far.

Our Whitfield Advantage will stay the cleanest longest.

Low burn is the worst for any stove.

Our little Whitfield Prodigy will smoke up the glass fairly quick.

I run the little guy on low a lot. The big issue is that on low especially when the stove is freshly cleaned, the fire burns out quickly between feeding cycles and the next batch of fuel will lay on the coals and smoke a bit before it flashes over and the smoke clears.

On the number 2 setting it will not do this and will keep the glass cleaner longer.

Unless you have had several stoves and experiment with each and every one, its hard to tell what they will do.

Our old Earth Stove would skunk up the glass real quick no matter what you did.

The design of the air wash has much to do with the how well the glass stays clean.

I use an SOS pad lightly dampened to clean the crap off of the glass. Wipe down afterwards with a damp paper towel and then dryone.

I have thought about trying a high temp wax or other substance that maybe would coat the glass and stop some of the crap from sticking.


Mostly though I believe its a case of how well the stove circulates the air through the firebox.


Its an item that us hard core Pellet Pigs just take in stride ya know :cheese:

Snowy