Jotul Castine glass haze

[Skier76]

I know what you're thinking: "you're choking down the stove too soon" or "your wood is too wet" or: "a combo of both". :lol:

Back in Dec/Jan, I installed the Euro intake plate. My firewood wasn't 100% seasoned yet, and the extra air the Euro provided helped with that. I did notice, however, that I was getting some hazing on the glass, even when burning hot. The problem areas were in the lower left and right corners of the glass. It started off small, but I'd get a good 4" spot on each side.

I remember someone hear saying (BeGreen?) that they noticed some hazing when they had the Europlate in.

Sunday, I put the USA plate back in and lit a fire. I noticed that the hazing didn't seem that bad after a few hours. I had just a bit on the latch side of the door. However, I'm still getting some on the right (hinge side). I got the stove up to 550 yesterday and it didn't burn it off.

Could this maybe be a gasket issue effecting the air wash? The stove is new; we just bought it in August.

 

[begreen]

The glass did darken in the lower corners a bit more with the Euro plate, though I only tried it for a week. The main issue for me was increased wood consumption with little other gain. But that's burning dry softwood and different from the normal grey haze that can form over time. I would clean the glass about every other week to address that. Seems the haze is just part of burning with a large glass view?

 

[Skier76]

Thanks BeGreen; I always appreciate your insite on the Castine.

I'll take a pic of the glass when we head up to VT this coming weekend. I'm sure just after burning for 8 hours or so, I have a decent sized spot on the lower right (hinge side) corner. Did you have the same issue with the USA plate? I have noticed, the center glass seems to stay much clearer with the USA plate. I didn't really have much of an issue witht the Euro, but it would get a little cloudy.

Anyways, I guess I should rephrase. I'm not getting a haze, it's more like a black spot. That's my current issue.

 

[begreen]

That may be a slight air leak. Check the glass and door gasket in that area next time you are up in VT.

 

[Skier76]

Thanks BeGreen. That makes sense. I'd imagine if it's a leak, it's just a matter of replacing the rope gasket? Can these things start leaking when they're this new?

 

[begreen]

It's possible that the glass gasket is there, but not seated correctly between the glass and the door. I found this to be the case on our stove, at the top right side. This is a big piece of glass and a thin strip of gasket with only a few clamps on the glass. The tension against the glass gasket is light. It could have slipped out in the area of darkening. Examine it closely in that area. If it's not in place, gently try to move it under the glass with a thin metal object. I used a precision pocket ruler to nudge it back under the glass. Be careful, especially if you need to loosen a nearby glass clamp. You don't want to retighten the clamp too much.

Also do the dollar bill test on the door gasket in that area and inspect carefully for a bit of debris or charcoal embedded in the gasket.

 

[Skier76]

Excellent! I'll take a look at the glass and I'll do the dollar bill test this weekend.

 

[Skier76]

Here's the latest! It passed the dollar bill test no problem.

It seems that there's a little "give" in the lower part of the glass...on both corners. The top part of the glass is good and tight. I checked all 4 clamps and everything is snug. The rope looked good around the glass. I could move it a bit in the lower corners if I suck something between the door and the glass; from the oustide. We did some burning this weekend and still had some hazing. It's actually pretty tough to remove...even after one burn. I had the stove up to 550F too. It's not particularly cold out; I wonder if that has an effect on the air wash?

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

My Castine's window consistently blackens up unless my wood is absolutely seasoned. I just clean it.

 

[begreen]

Yes, the stove likes properly dried wood. That may be why we did not get a bad accumulation of soot in the corners. But there was a little and I had to clean it once a week to keep it looking nice. This is a big piece of glass. Perhaps the air wash is too weak at the lowest extremes?

Skier, is that with the Euro plate or the US plate?

 

[Skier76]

I'm getting the black marks with both plates. It's actually why I switched out the Euro. My thinking was the USA plate may make a difference based on the airflow and where the intake holes are located.

This wasn't really and issue at the begining/middle of the season. It's only popped up at the end.

 

[logger]

The only time my Oslo got a little black on the glass was when I burned some semi-green wood. No problems at all with dry wood though.

 

[JBinKC]

As long as the chimney shows no sign of smoke coming out of the chimney when you are burning your doing fine.

I get dirty corners on my glass also and came to the conclusion it is a design flaw with the stove.

 

[begreen]

This wasn’t really and issue at the begining/middle of the season. It’s only popped up at the end.

Call it shoulder season soot. I'm guessing perhaps you are burning a little bit cooler and for shorter periods now than in the peak cold of winter. It's surprising the difference in glass soot burn off between 500 and 600 degrees stovetop.

 

[Skier76]

Thanks guys! I like that..."Shoulder Season Soot". I'll leave it at that and take a good look again next season once I get it ramped up again.

I will say, the stove is great this time of year as well. It's just enough to take the chill/dampness out of the air.

 

[Skier76]

Quick update. We headed up to VT on Sat the 12th....cold and rainy. It was about 60 outside and about the same temp in the house. I started a small fire to take the chill off. I used some small bits of ash from a standing dead that came down this fall. The wood was nice and dry. The glass stayed very clean...until I threw in a split that was a bit "wet"....sizzle...hazey glass. So. Looks like this is a function of wet wood.

 

[dvellone]

My glass on the castine hazes or gets downright dirty if the wood is anything less than entirely seasoned, and even then if I shut the air down a bit too soon it'll darken the glass a bit.

With well seasoned wood it's much easier to keep clean. It's just the design of the Castine - it'll let you know if the wood isn't "high octane". My brother has an oslo and he rarely burns seasoned wood and his glass is always clean.

 

[Skier76]

That's interesting that the Oslo is less sensative to that.

 

[dvellone]

That's interesting that the Oslo is less sensative to that.

Tell me about it. My brother is one of those guys that insists that his 3 month "seasoned" wood burns just fine when we've debated the topic, then he shows up at my house and sees my dirty glass while his is almost always clean. Our chimneys are a different story though!

 

[begreen]

The Castine has a shallower firebox. It brings the flue gases more forward towards the glass.