dirty glass

[mkvrgti]

been running my mt vernon at for a couple weeks now on and off with the t-stat. the glass seems to get fairly dirty. i am using okanagan pellets. anything i should try change?

 

[mkvrgti]

softwood, an flame height i have changed to +2 it was at 0

 

[mkvrgti]

and have only burned through 2 1/2 bags in 2 weeks of running.

 

[mkvrgti]

i will give that a shot, this is still all new to me haha. but yes its only really been running on low hasnt been all that cold yet.

 

[Millsk]

What color is the glass? The glass is going to get dirty no matter what you burn. But Oakies should be white if they are burnign well... if it is real bothersome you may want to try running the stove on a hotter setting. It'll run shorter but will burn cleaner.

 

[mkvrgti]

black/brownish

 

[P38X2]

Sound like you need more air. The glass is gonna get dirty but it shouldn't be black.

 

[DAKSY]

Sound like you need more air. The glass is gonna get dirty but it shouldn't be black.

+1 Your fire is starved for combustion air if the glass is getting black. Your flames are probably dark orange to brown at the tips as well...Make sure EVERYTHING is clean from the intake air to the exhaust cap...

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Trim your fuel feed down or your combustion air up or change your burn mode or a combination of them until you get a good flame.

Who did the install and how did they setup the stove, please tell us all about the venting and existence or absence of an outside air kit aka OAK.

 

[mkvrgti]

i did the install 3in pipe, goes about 10 feet with a 90. do not have an oak hooked up rite now, its all open around the stove, and currently the wall behind the stove is open.

 

[Millsk]

My glass turns black when I burn on low. If I'm burning hot pellets the carbon burns off once the stove ramps up. the glass then turns white. Not the same stove, but I'm betting it's becuase you're burning on low...glass gets dirty.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

If your flame height was set for the fuel you are burning and the stove is in the correct setting for that type of fuel you are faced with dirty glass when you burn for prolonged periods on low or if the flame was lazy or had dark or black tips when you did the flame height adjustment the amount of time it takes to produce dirty door glass is greatly reduced. I see nothing in the manuals that provides really fine tuning of the fire.

If you had a bad flame when you did the flame height adjustment you could have a case of a weak combustion blower or lack of sufficient oxygen for clean combustion. This can be due to negative pressure in the house or the combustion air the fuel is getting has a reduced oxygen level. Both of these situations can be remedied by installing an OAK. It can also be due to bad gaskets.

 

[tsmith]

If you need to increase air flow, switch the elevation setting to high elevation, I use this when I am burning High density pellets like Turman or Hamers to bring more air to the fire. If you need less fuel, switch from softwood to hardwood and if that don't work you can even use corn that is the lowest feed setting. The only problem with corn setting is that your igniter will be on twice as long at start up.

 

[serveprotect]

After burning one week around 5 bags of north americans i have black around edges. Brand new mt vernon hardwood setting. Not sure if that is typical thx.

 

[DexterDay]

Glass shouldn't be that dark, but there is no way of stopping the dirtiness.

The color should be a "Grey" shade for the most part. Depending on pellet brand, I may get a very light brown. But grey.for the most part..

I only burn mine on Low (90% of time) and I go weeks before cleaning. But when I do clean it, its Filthy

This was after a couple weeks of burnin last year.

 

[mkvrgti]

stove isnt even running now, saying auger is jammed took it apart twice.

 

[DexterDay]

Take a small mirror and look up the auger chute. Make sure there isnt any bridging.

Did you empty the hopper completely?

 

[mkvrgti]

hopper has been emptied, and vac out.