glass cleaner and burn strategy

[Whitman]

Did you access from the side loading door?

 

[kbrown]

is simple green a good cleaner for dirty stove glass? i just installed a castine; been burnin straight for the last week or so and the glass is dirty.
also, i have been shutting the stove down before bed round 10 and up at 6. there are coals at that point which is great but my concern is that the stove is prob running around 200-300 degrees for a fair portion of the night which could be causing some creosote issues.
thoughts on how to ensure that this doesn't become a problem? thanks!

For about a couple years, we used a product from Rutland. This year when we ran out, we just use vinegar. Most times, the glass is still warm so it's like putting on warm vinegar and I have never been happier! For any really bad spots like down in the corners where the airwash may not reach fully, follow the old ash trick. There are numerous threads on the glass cleaning; too many for me to list; but the common denominator is keeping a hot fire, dry wood and for those who have an airwash system, check it to make sure there are no parts or gaskets to replace. On the Napoleon there's a gasket for this which in our case was damaged and we didn't know it. Once we replaced that, it was clean glass from then on.

 

[leeave96]

Did you access from the side loading door?

Yes, and while you are in there, you can brush off the cat too.

Bill

 

[Stump_Branch]

I uh made the umm error or bonehead mistake of sitting on my couch watching the fire, and looking at a smaller square of pine plywood laying on the floor (not unusal as I am renovating) and thinking, hmm pine burns hot let me just burn down these coals real quick so I can load it up before dinner....I set the piece on the remaining bed and sat back to continue watching. Stove was about 1/3 damnpened, after about say 2-3 minutes, that piece took off, I mean oh crap. I sat there watching for a second, then i noticed the glass was turning brownish, i got up and opened the draft all the way, and it didnt improve, I closed it down and it started to get worse, so I opened it back up, reserved to watch my stupidity play out in front of me. whole thing was over in about 6-7 minutes. The rest of the night i tried to 'push' the stove to some hot temps to clean it, as I have read on here. I got a lighter color but not much improvement. Let the stove die out came home from work to try the damp newspaper and ashes trick I have read on here as well. Well i only had paper towels, but it worked flawlessly, came off like the quick swipe of the back of the hand across the mouth to wipe the icing off before the wife catches you ruining your dinner.

Sorry about the dark crispy black, you might have to scrub a bit more then me, but try it, its another free way to use wood.

 

[Kenster]

Everyone talks about burning hot to keep the glass clean. I burn hot to keep the house warm. No matter how hot the stove gets, it's eventually going to cool down and when it cools down, isn't the glass going to darken? I just don't let my burning revolve around keeping the glass clean but, I will admit, our stove is in the main room of the house and we spend most of our evening time in another room watching TV. I guess if we sat and watched the stove all night I'd be a little more worried about the glass getting dirty. But I still don't think I'd let clean glass be the driving factor in my burning regimen. I clean the glass when I empty the ashes.

 

[kbrown]

Everyone talks about burning hot to keep the glass clean. I burn hot to keep the house warm. No matter how hot the stove gets, it's eventually going to cool down and when it cools down, isn't the glass going to darken? I just don't let my burning revolve around keeping the glass clean but, I will admit, our stove is in the main room of the house and we spend most of our evening time in another room watching TV. I guess if we sat and watched the stove all night I'd be a little more worried about the glass getting dirty. But I still don't think I'd let clean glass be the driving factor in my burning regimen. I clean the glass when I empty the ashes.

I don't think anyone is saying that the priority of burning hot just to keep the glass clean; but rather the point is if you burn within the recommended temperatures you are doing it to burn safely. Our stove is also located in a room away from where we spend most of our time, but we do check on it during the initial burn until we know it's in the correct burn temps and secondary burn has kicked in. Also, the stove will certainly heat the house at temps below 300F but then I'm now risking creating cerosote build up in the chimney, certainly no secondary burn and just an overall waste of the potential btu's the wood could supply. IMHO, the dirty glass is your canary in the coal mine and should be a consideration during your burning. I think it was Backwoods who stated that when the stove is cooling down, it's no longer logs, but just coals which aren't going to contribute to the creosote or dirty glass issue. Blackened glass is a result of incomplete combustion - something I don't want in my woodstove or any other fuel burning device; it's a waste of fuel, money and a sign of a potential problem. To me, seeing what's on my glass tells me what's potentially inside my liner 15' up and if you consider that knowing that the firebox is hotter than top of the chimney, if you have build up on the glass then it's a heck of a bigger problem in that liner. You can tell a lot on how someone burns by just looking at the glass.

 

[Kenster]

heatit, I hear you. This year, with some really great hickory (11-14%) and oak (18%) and a freshly cleaned flue and cap, which gives me a much improved draft, I'm only getting a little brown haze on the windows, not the heavy black like I have in the past. I've learned much in the past year since I discovered this site. I guess I just meant that I'm not too worried about the glass. I get a cruise going around 550-650 for a while, then start closing it down and it's still holding that several hours later when I get up in the middle of the night for a bathroom visit. My VC Vigilant 1977 doesn't have all the fancy stuff like CATS and OAKs. I don't think it's capable of secondary burns. All I know is that it gets freakin' hot and holds that temp for a long time. And lately, as a nice little gift, the windows are staying, not squeaky clean, but just slightly tinted.

 

[firefighterjake]

Everyone talks about burning hot to keep the glass clean. I burn hot to keep the house warm. No matter how hot the stove gets, it's eventually going to cool down and when it cools down, isn't the glass going to darken? I just don't let my burning revolve around keeping the glass clean but, I will admit, our stove is in the main room of the house and we spend most of our evening time in another room watching TV. I guess if we sat and watched the stove all night I'd be a little more worried about the glass getting dirty. But I still don't think I'd let clean glass be the driving factor in my burning regimen. I clean the glass when I empty the ashes.

As Heatit mentioned I think it isn't that folks are hung up on clean glass, but rather that by burning hot enough -- at the proper temps -- you can not only end up with cleaner glass, but you are also burning more efficiently and cleanly with it comes to the emissions. The problem is many folks just think they are burning hot enough and that they have plenty of heat and their wood is seasoned and they know how to run the stove and so on and so forth . . . the view of the glass also shows a truer picture of what is really happening.

As for the cool down . . . usually by the time the stove cools too much the issue is moot since coals don't have a whole lot of gunk that can mess up the view of the glass.

Like you I don't fret too much about the glass . . . I clean when I empty the ash pan . . . and if I have some guests coming over . . . or when it is convenient to do so (i.e. after an overnight fire) . . . but I don't worry about a bit of fly ash or haze during the course of the week.