Glass

[Spotted Owl]

With out all the fancy wingdinger stuff that we have in stoves now, how did they keep glass from building up? No air wash that I know of in a Fireview, Orley, heck I even saw a modified set of Fisher doors that had glass put in'em. Is there a secret to keeping glass clean in our smoke generating appliances? I have an idea to put in some glass on ours, but I would rather not cut them down on a gamble that I would have a nice glass view of a black nasty buildup making a new mirror for the living room.

Any thoughts?



Owl

 

[dmmoss51]

Hey Owl,

Burning a hot enough fire with dry wood will *reduce* the buildup on glass. Black glass is usually the sign of wet wood or too low of a fire. I know when I burn my cat stove low for a long burn, dark glass is something I am going to get. But usually during the startup of the next fire with nicehot flames I will burn off the las fires soot and start over.

Even in these new stoves no one that I know of keeps their glass 100% clean.

 

[coaly]

All the Fisher glass models had an air wash. Not easy to detect always from outside.

Fisher Model IV with internal glass air wash that comes in the slot at door bottom below;


Air intake behind draft cap ..................... Air damper support allows main air in


Air wash intake sliders ........................... Air wash slot and main intakes visible at sides

Model III is the same with main air dampers on the sides;


The glass Insert was the same way.
Brass and Glass Honey Bear had the only air intakes above and below the glass.

All the Fishers worked very well since you can close down the mains and allow ALL the incoming air as wash.

Many coal burners will have air leakage slots or grooves in the front of the grate support just behind the door to allow air flow over the glass. They can be very small and ash will pack them shut. Even though they don't create soot on the glass, the fly ash when shaking sticks to a certain extent. (best to shake when draft is high) So a quick wipe with a damp cloth daily keeps them clean. If you don't do that with a coal stove, the acid in the ash residue etches into the glass. So they need to be wiped if they look dirty or not since there is a very slight ash film that makes the glass look tinted when slightly etched.