Summit glass - new install

[Dale.Z]

New install, four fires, glass looks like crap.

Thought it was the way I was loading the wood, so I cleaned the glass and tried again.

Wood is well seasoned, Think the seal is leaking?

Any guesses?

 

[Pagey]

Just for giggles have you checked the moisture content of the wood? Are you letting the stove get nice and hot and the wood charred before you begin closing down the air?

 

[Dale.Z]

I am a rookie wood burner, but I can tell you that I personally cut, split and stacked the wood over 1.5 yrs ago. It sounds like bowling pins when I hit them together, o ya its all oak.
Yes the wood was well past charred before turning down the air had a good secondary burn going and no smoke from outside.

 

[Stevebass4]

can you tighten up the glass / gaskets

mine gets like that a little if the wood is burning too close to glass

 

[Pagey]

I am a rookie wood burner, but I can tell you that I personally cut, split and stacked the wood over 1.5 yrs ago. It sounds like bowling pins when I hit them together, o ya its all oak.
Yes the wood was well past charred before turning down the air had a good secondary burn going and no smoke from outside.

Excellent. However, that leaves me without any good guesses. :red:

 

[Dale.Z]

If I could I would (can you tighten up the glass / gaskets) but I don't see how.

That's what I thought, I had the wood to close but since I cleaned it and tried again no help.

 

[Stevebass4]

isn't there an adjustment on the back of the handle? ie a nut to tighten -

mine has screws that hold the glass in place and a nut on the back of the handle but mine is a different stove

 

[fredarm]

Got a stove thermometer? Maybe you're not burning as hot as you think you are. A good hot fire should burn that black stuff right off the glass.

 

[Dale.Z]

Got a stove thermometer? Maybe you're not burning as hot as you think you are. A good hot fire should burn that black stuff right off the glass.

Good idea! That's what I thought it was suppose to do. I will have to try and find one.

 

[begreen]

It could also be that the stove air is being closed down too much, too early. There appear to be some large chunks of coals in there.

To check the door gasket seal, do the dollar bill test all the way around the door gasket. Insert a dollar about half-way into the door opening. Latch the door on the dollar and then pull the dollar out. There should be some tension (resistance) when pulling it out. If it's very loose, then the door is not sealing well.

Another possible, does this have an outside air kit? If not, did the OAK air cover get removed? (Manual, page 9).

 

[Bigg_Redd]

1) that doesn't look so bad

2) burn your fire a little hotter and it will clean itself.

 

[Dale.Z]

To check the door gasket seal, do the dollar bill test all the way around the door gasket. Insert a dollar about half-way into the door opening. Latch the door on the dollar and then pull the dollar out. There should be some tension (resistance) when pulling it out. If it's very loose, then the door is not sealing well.

Another possible, does this have an outside air kit? If not, did the OAK air cover get removed? (Manual, page 9).

[/quote]

OK now we are getting somewhere. I did the dollar bill test as per your instructions and to my surprise / frustration the bottom of the door the bill slides thorough with little resistance. Looking closely at the gasket shows very little impression from the frame as due the sides and the top.

And yes I did remove the air intake plug.

 

[begreen]

It was hard to be sure from the picture, but the bottom gasket didn't look like it was making firm contact. This is not a highly adjustable area.

First, if you have a straight-edge (like a level) put it across the door and make sure it isn't warped. If so, call the dealer. If the door is true, then you might very carefully bend in the door catch just a skosh and try the dollar bill test again. Also might be good to ask the dealer to take a look.

Here is a past discussion of this problem:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/35798/

 

[Hogwildz]

Door is too loose. Bend the latch tab in a tad until the dollar is a snug pull all the way around.
Keep the wood at least a couple inches away from the glass. If the wood is uncovered and wet from rain, and even some times normally, the outgassing out the ends od the splits will do what your experiencing.
Lastly, you may not be burning hot enough. Cause even if it gets gunked up some, once its up to temp and cruising along hot, it will burn that crap right off the glass and self clean.
Your going to get fly ash (whitish haze) at times, cant be avoided. But if its black like that, its one of the symptoms above or several or all.
Mine will get gunked up cause on the cold nights I pack it full and some splits end up being right next to the glass. It gunks, but after the load is going good and up to temp, it burns that off all on its own.

 

[summit]

the summit has a very simple tongue bolted off the outside edge of the opening. i have seen them (rarely) been bent out too far out of the crate: to remedy, tap in the tongue so it closes toward the stove body w/ a hammer.. do it in small increments untill you feel a good pressure fit when u close the door.

 

[summit]

otherwise, it looks fine: when you gotta run her harder, she 'll stay cleaner... its 40s here, and i still aint runnin mine: we let the sun come in in the day, and close it all up at night... tryin to hold off on the wood till at least halloween....

 

[BrotherBart]

How long are the splits? If you are loading N/S as suggested by PE anything over 17 inchs or so splits are going to do that. The wood outgasses out of the end of the splits right at the glass which is cooler before the load gets hot enough to burn it off the glass. Does it with my 30-NC also. One of the reasons I only burn 16-17 inch splits anymore.

That pattern on the glass tells the tale. The strongest part of the airwash is down the middle.

 

[Hogwildz]

How long are the splits? If you are loading N/S as suggested by PE anything over 17 inchs or so splits are going to do that. The wood outgasses out of the end of the splits right at the glass which is cooler before the load gets hot enough to burn it off the glass. Does it with my 30-NC also. One of the reasons I only burn 16-17 inch splits anymore.

That pattern on the glass tells the tale. The strongest part of the airwash is down the middle.

Well hell, I wish I would have thought of that.................................

 

[Dale.Z]

Up-Date

I guess this post would be more for Pacific Energy Summit series inserts then other manufactures but I feel it needs to be shared so as to save another from going down an unnecessary rabbit hole.
Let me explain. I completed the dollar bill test and found that the sides and top of the door had a tight seal but the bottom was loose. Received some good advice on adjusting the latch to tightening up the door seal, but when I did the bottom of the door still failed the test compared to the top and sides.
Spoke with my dealer and he told me that it is designed that way.
He explained that the top of the door seal frame (stove side) was actually designed to be a convex shape and the bottom of the frame was a concave. He challenged me to apply a straight edge across the frame and low and behold he was 100% right on. Nice to know that the dealer I choose to do business with is knowledgeable about the items they sell.
This made me feel better knowing that it was designed to operate that way and that nothing was wrong with my heater.

Thanks for all your help.

Dale