Black Glass

[holland_patrick]

I have a new Avalon Olympic Stove and while I've only burned three time my glass is a solid black. Now I've cleaned the glass and all is clear now but I wish to keep it this way we do use the stove as a supplemental heat and we do not burn everyday. the last burn I did was with seasoned wood and I loaded it up and it burned all night with the damper and the air turned down. there was some coal in the ash when i checked on it in the morning.

what do i need to do to make the glass stay clear it should have a glass wash but it doesn't seem to be working

 

[rdust]

Incomplete combustion....how much of a flame are you leaving in the stove when you turn it down? How are you turning it down, are you turning it down in stages or getting it hot and slamming the air closed?

What type of wood, how long has it been split and stacked, what are the specifics on the chimney, what are the stove top temps?

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum we have a bunch of good folks here!

 

[Todd]

Probably turned it down too soon and the secondary burn pooped out on you and smouldered.

 

[savageactor7]

Providing you wood is seasoned you probably choked the air down too much. Just let the fire burn hotter and the glass will clear up for you.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I have a new Avalon Olympic Stove and while I've only burned three time my glass is a solid black. Now I've cleaned the glass and all is clear now but I wish to keep it this way we do use the stove as a supplemental heat and we do not burn everyday. the last burn I did was with seasoned wood and I loaded it up and it burned all night with the damper and the air turned down. there was some coal in the ash when i checked on it in the morning.

what do i need to do to make the glass stay clear it should have a glass wash but it doesn't seem to be working

Welcome to the forum Patrick.

Normally that part of your sentence that is in bold is the sure giveaway. So, what about this "seasoned wood?" What type of wood is it and how was it seasoned. We find that most folks purchase their wood and just take it from the seller that it has been seasoned. We also find that 99.9% of those wood sellers either do not know how to properly season wood or just tell the buyer it is seasoned. Another we find they say the tree had been cut down 2 years ago.

That is fine, but in order to properly season wood, it has to be cut to firewood length, split and then stacked and left out in the wind for a time. The time varies a lot for different woods. For example, I can cut a soft maple in April and burn it in October. If I cut a red oak, I always figure that oak has to be split and stacked for minimum of 3 years to burn properly.

As for cleaning that glass, wet some newspaper (not soak, just damp) and dip it into the ashes. It will remove that black stuff like magic. You can always use some windex after the black has been removed if you still have a few streaks, but the ash trick works wonders.

One more thing is the stove. Hopefully you are not cleaning out all the ashes when done burning. Leave some ash in the stove.

 

[Auctioneer]

I have a new Avalon Olympic Stove and while I've only burned three time my glass is a solid black. Now I've cleaned the glass and all is clear now but I wish to keep it this way we do use the stove as a supplemental heat and we do not burn everyday. the last burn I did was with seasoned wood and I loaded it up and it burned all night with the damper and the air turned down. there was some coal in the ash when i checked on it in the morning.

what do i need to do to make the glass stay clear it should have a glass wash but it doesn't seem to be working

Hotter fire by more air or dryer wood...if using unseason give it more air the black with burn off the glass then close the air a little.

Burn on

 

[holland_patrick]

My father in law gave me the wood he cuts it and it is seasoned right in small cuts and stacked single row and it has been airing out for two years(it left over from last burning season. so i'm sure it's dry .


Your right i'm most likely choking the air out too soon... I'm lighting it to night so I'll see how it goes. but i will be getting a temp gauge as I don't want to guess

 

[Auctioneer]

Yes, but could it be wet from rain????

If your glass turns black just give more air and you will watch the glass clear up I don't think your getting the stove hot enough happens to me to in the sholder season at times too.

Burn on!

 

[holland_patrick]

No he keeps the top covered it's not wet.. it nice dry wood... I just picked some more up.. I will build a ragining fire and make sure i don't choke it down too much. I my parents had a free standing fire place which was open and you just had a damper on the flew it was much easier..LOL but much much less effecent

 

[NH_Wood]

Surface water from rain shouldn't have a huge impact on the glass getting dirty, should it? That moisture should be evaporated quickly. Cheers!

 

[North of 60]

QUOTED(the damper and the air turned down.)

Does this stove have a bypass or are you talking about a key damper? I think this has been overlooked... Maybe?

 

[holland_patrick]

these are the two controls on my stove

does this clarify what i mean about dampener and air control???

 

[North of 60]

Yep, its your bypass damper and it should be closed before your other adjustments. Carry on.

 

[cptoneleg]

Yep, its your bypass damper and it should be closed before your other adjustments. Carry on.

I play cards on a site with a North of 60 is that you???

 

[North of 60]

Yep, its your bypass damper and it should be closed before your other adjustments. Carry on.

I play cards on a site with a North of 60 is that you???

Nope, I am too young to be playing cards. :cheese:

 

[rdust]

these are the two controls on my stove


does this clarify what i mean about dampener and air control???

I have a Lopi stove which shares the same parent company as your Avalon(Travis Industries) and have the same type of bypass. The bypass is only to aid in smoke spillage on reloads and getting the draft going on a cold start. Once the fire is established the bypass should be closed, this does not contribute to how the fire is burning once closed.

Your Avalon may burn similar to my stove. I close the bypass once the fire is established and turn the air down in stages using the air control lever. Once my stove top is 400-500 I adjust the air in three stages. The first adjustment I use to keep the stove from getting away on me the next two are for fine tuning the fire. When I adjust the first time I watch for the flames to get lazy, I'll let it burn for 5-10 minutes at that spot, then I'll fine tune it from there. With a non CAT stove I try to always keep a flame of some type going. With these stove it's nearly impossible to kill the flame completely without modifying the secondary air if you turn it down in stages and all the supporting pieces are right(chimney, wood etc.)

 

[holland_patrick]

looking better....

 

[Auctioneer]

Nice looking stove and fire too. Looks like you got it now.

Burn on