Experienced wood burner needs help.

[quinn]

Hey Hearth Gang,

I have just installed and broken in a new Jotul Castine and the door glass is black as night. I am currently burning my fourth fire with this stove with the first three being the break-in burns and this one is the first up to performance heat. I have a Firelight in my house also and have used wood as primary heat for many years. The wood I am using is well seasoned and burns beautifully in my Firelight. The Castine has excellent draft with one 90 elbow, 6 feet of vertical single wall and 16 feet of insulated chimney pipe (all on the inside of the house and capped three feet above the main ridgeline of the roof). I used the same chimney system (in the same location) with the Firelight before moving the bigger stove to a more central location where I installed a new chimney for the Firelight. Right now the stove is cooking along at 500 degrees and I can barely see the flame of the fire as the glass is so black with creosote. The secondary burn tubes are working and I have excellent control of the combustion air with the air lever. Any ideas?

Trent.

 

[savageactor7]

HUH! burning the stove hot usually cleans my glass up ...mostly. Well not clean clean like we like our car windshields to be but clean enough we can clearly see into the box. One thing I can tell you is DONT use any glass cleaner with ammonia and if you have hard water don't use that on the glass either.

I clean mine off with a paper towel only ... check the back pages of this forum, I remember a post about this very topic in the 'hearth room'. good luck with the glass.

edit to add
I just noticed you're in BC and I wonder if the sap in those fur trees have something to do with blacking out the glass? I dunno

 

[Robbie]

Air leak around door ?


Robbie

 

[whphel]

Are you burning ns or ew, I have noticed that ew will fog and make my door window dark but burning NS burns hotter and now window issues and I burn 500-600.

 

[Hogwildz]

try loading the splits an inch or two away from the glass.

 

[begreen]

It sounds like the stove is burning cool, and perhaps with somewhat smoky startup fires. Was fatwood used to start the fire? Try burning the stove hot the next burn. Once the fire is established, add about 4 medium sized splits. Let them get a good fire going, with rolling flames, then close the air control about 1/2- 3/4s. The secondary burn should still be strong and the stove top temp should be heading to around 550-600. That should burn off all soot off the glass and it should stay pretty clean.

 

[quinn]

Ok, thanks for the suggestions.

This stove likes it hot. It is at 600 right now and up around 700 the creosote started to clear although only in the center of the window. At 600 it appears to be holding its own and not clearing around the perimeter. Perhaps a ns log layout would work with keeping the wood more central in the firebox.

No leak around the door. I lit a match and blew it out and put the smoking match around the perimeter of the door and no suction.

I have been using the wood I use in my F600 (21-23 inches long) and laying it ew. Perhaps this is too long creating a low temp burn at the ends.

Using small splits close to the glass helped, again, only in the center.

It seems to me, at this early phase in my new relationship with Castine, that this stove likes to burn really hot - up around the 600 to 700 range. I have always thought 700 to be too high (stove top temp.) and maybe I am mistaken. Any thoughts on this?

Interestingly, my F600 glass was choked this am and this very, very rarely happens. I wonder if I need to bring a fresh air connection to each stove. Currently I am not using a fresh air supply and with the 600 only in the house it worked just fine. Perhaps now, with two stoves, I need more air. I do live in a 100 year old house that has been updated with insulation and vapour barrier. The only things that makes me question the need for more air is that both stoves fire up nicely and are very willing to run hot.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it.

Trent.

 

[Hogwildz]

If its burning as it should, and sounds as though it is. No need for the outside air. In that old house, even with all you have do to upgrade and tighten it up, its still going to have much more air leaks even if they are small ones.
700 degrees is where my stove likes to level out and run for a good amount of time. Your fine at that temp.

 

[begreen]

Give the stove glass a good cleaning. I think it just got extra dirty from the initial small, smoky startup fires. Fatwood or wax starters can exacerbate the issue. Now that you are burning hot, this issue shouldn't happen again. Long logs aren't a problem and the stove is an E/W loader by design. I keep wood at least a inch from the glass at all times. Closer than that and the log will smoke up the glass while it outgases. This usually will burn off later, but it does leave a haze on the glass.

 

[quinn]

Well, I guess I am not so experienced after all eh? After giving the glass a good cleaning and lighting a hot fire the glass is staying clear. Thanks for your help.

Trent.

 

[bmwloco]

I use "Clear Flame" a spray on I picked up at Lowes I think... it does a good job of cleaning soot from the glass.

Careful to use gloves - it's pretty heavy stuff. I wipe it on with paper towels, then use them to start the next fire...

Post cleaning, it stays clear for a couple weeks. I only need to do it occasionally.

 

[Wolves-Lower]

I use “Clear Flame” a spray on I picked up at Lowes I think… it does a good job of cleaning soot from the glass

Not to get off topic but I never use cleaners per say on my glass.
When I have a cold box and the glass needs cleaning I just take a paper towel that is moist, rub a few ashes on it, then proceed to wipe it down. I follow up with a dry paper towel and call it good.

 

[quinn]

I also just use newspaper with some water and wood ash to clean the glass. Does this clear flame stuff actually help to keep the glass clean longer than simply using water, ash and paper?

 

[bmwloco]

I only have to use the Clear Flame about once a month. More if it's sooted up, but the old Resolute stays pretty clear 90% of the time.