Another Dirty Glass Question

[Fredo]

Mastoo,

Welcome to Hearth. I go through the same issue with my stoves glass window. The Ash that I am burning is not seasoned enough and my glass stains. I get rid of stains by burning hotter and keeping my damper open around 25 percent. It takes a while before stains are washed/removed from glass but it works.
As for my wife telling me not to burn my stove because of glass staining, those are fighting words my friend ;-)

Fredo

 

[Fod01]

My turn - a few folks here make a groove in the coals, front to back. This lets some air get under the reload.
I also use some crispy kindling in the front if I've let the coals burn down too far. If the load is still struggling, I add more 'good stuff' where ever I can..front, top, sides, to get the party started. No way am I watching it smoulder for 10 - 15 minutes.

One more thought.... I'm not exactly sure what 'boost air' is, but extended use during a reload may by cooling your system down. Isn't it used primarily at startup?

Good luck! Gabe

 

[WoodpileOCD]

Mastoo,

Welcome to Hearth. I go through the same issue with my stoves glass window. The Ash that I am burning is not seasoned enough and my glass stains. I get rid of stains by burning hotter and keeping my damper open around 25 percent. It takes a while before stains are washed/removed from glass but it works.
As for my wife telling me not to burn my stove because of glass staining, those are fighting words my friend ;-)

Fredo

+1 but my fireplace area doesn't look nearly as pristine as his does. In fact pristine and my fireplace wouldn't collide in the same sentence. :cheese: How DO you keep it so clean around the hearth?

 

[Mastoo]

Outside temps warmed up so the fireplace ban is in effect again until Tuesday. My wife likes me to use the screen instead of closing the door, but either way it gets too hot in our house unless the high is going to be less than 40.

All your posts all great ideas so I'll try to incorporate most of them.

retreadsme - The montecito is a pretty tiny firebox so don't think I can do N/S. I'm in St. Louis.

everyone - I'm still unclear about temperature. The manual says this about refueling: "A temperature of 500 degrees C and up, with a visible flame, in the upper part of the firebox indicates a maxium efficiency. To obtain this temperature, the fireplace must be operated with the primary air and air boost controls fully opened during 10 to 20 minutes after reloading, depending on the heat and on the moisture content of the wood." This is telling me flames in the upper part are good and indicate it is hot enough but I can't really measure any temperatures with this setup? Boost air I think is letting house air (as opposed to outside air) come in through the thingy at the bottom front of the firebox, used at startup and reload.

WoodpileOCD - We had our unusable prefab torn out and the entire surround redone, hence the cleanliness. Kind of like the first dent in a new car I imagine the first time I drop something on it will be painful but after that it will go downhill fast.

Things to try: this afternoon I'll split some pieces and check the moisture. Try smaller splits with kindling on the reload and reload sooner, with air channels in the ash. Try to get it hotter to burn off the residue. Sounds like I won't bother with the "kiln dried" bundles. Try cleaning with just a damp paper towel. And probably the most important thing is get a couple more racks and fill them with wood so I can be sure I'm using seasoned wood in the future.

Thanks all. I'll post results after the next couple tries.

 

[gyrfalcon]

This is telling me flames in the upper part are good and indicate it is hot enough but I can't really measure any temperatures with this setup?

There are stove thermometers with a magnetic backing that you can stick to the metal on the face of the insert. If your manual doesn't mention where to put a thermometer, I'd suggest contacting the manufacturer and asking. It helps a lot when you're learning your stove's operation (which can take more than one season for sure) to know what temperatures you're getting. Just going by "feel" is awfully imprecise until you've been through a few heating seasons and can calibrate that "feel" to the different outside temps. (My stove is running at a nice 500 right now, but it's a frosty 3 degrees out, and it sure doesn't feel like 500 does in the 20s, even standing right next to it.)

And by the way, if you do get a good manufacturer person on the phone, ask them about the dirty glass problem. They may be able to tell how to minimize it.

Good luck, and do come back and tell us how it's going.

 

[Mastoo]

Spoiler alert but I think I have the answer. In my defense as a newbie to clean burning: I used wood from 3 sources that all said it was seasoned. I also tried a bundle of that "kiln dried" stuff. I read this web site and knew that unseasoned wood is the usual cause of dirty glass. I bought a moisture meter and it said all my wood was < 15%, though some of it was 20% on a fresh split. I tried smaller splits, more kindling and super cedars, raking air channels in the ash, etc. I tried measuring some temps but all the accessible metal shows 200 deg F on a magnetic thermometer, pointing an IR gun at other parts also shows 200 at most, and pointing the IR gun into the firebox with the door open just flashes "too hot" on the meter. And still ugly brown stuff on the glass.

So a friend got tired of listening to me whine and gave me a few pieces of wood he said was absolutely seasoned. It reads 8% on my meter outside and on a fresh split. I burned a load tonight and not only was this my first burn without the glass getting coated, but the glass was actually spotless!

I need to do a couple more to make sure it wasn't a fluke, but I'll jump to the conclusion my moister meter reads low and firewood guys probably all claim their wood is well seasoned, and the advice from you all on this forum is great. Thanks all.

 

[Mastoo]

+1 but my fireplace area doesn't look nearly as pristine as his does. In fact pristine and my fireplace wouldn't collide in the same sentence. :cheese: How DO you keep it so clean around the hearth?

2 years later, my fireplace is no longer pristine. Still struggling with dirty glass at times, I added a couple feet to the chimney and...
Success! Several days of solid burning with beautiful clean glass!