What is it?

[pgmr]

It is hearth related.

 

[USMC80]

what is the picture of?

 

[cableman]

Wet wood dirty glass!

 

[Chris_Up_North]

I vote dirty glass when it starts to burn off the carbon from a 500F+ fire.
Looks like a bacterial colony made of carbon.

 

[pgmr]

Well done, Cableman and Chris Up North! Had a low fire overnight and door got pretty creosoted (probably some marginal wood, but the cat was doing it's job). After firing it up this morning and burning off some of the crud, it created this interesting fractal like pattern. I'm wondering if it's the IR coating on the glass doing that or maybe the Rutland glass cleaner with silicone. Here's a larger view:

 

[USMC80]

Sorry read the title wrong and got confused

 

[PLAYS WITH FIRE]

I think dirty glass on a cat stove is normal? What are your burn times like with the Buck?

 

[pgmr]

I think dirty glass on a cat stove is normal? What are your burn times like with the Buck?

Yes, it does get pretty dirty, especially when running at low air settings. Last night's was extra dirty, as I had a 1.5# dumbbell plate hanging on the doghouse air control to limit the amount going directly to the coals. Nothing to worry about, as the cat will burn up incomplete combustion products, so the chimney doesn't get to looking like the inside of the stove.

I can get 10-12 hours of good heat out of a full reload on low. Probably only 5-6 hours on a medium setting, but I seldom need to run it with the air controls open.

 

[firefighterjake]

I saw a mermaid swimming through a lava flow . . . wait a minute this isn't a Rorschach test is it?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I think dirty glass on a cat stove is normal? What are your burn times like with the Buck?

What????! Dirty glass is not normal for any stove and for certain, not a cat stove. If you have black glass, you can be pretty darned certain it is not the fault of the stove. It is usually the fault of the stove operator and it starts with putting the fuel in the stove. We learned that if we put poor fuel in our vehicles that they do not run properly. Well guess what? The same thing happens with the stove. Put poor fuel in and you get poor results. Try burning some good dry wood and you won't have black glass.

 

[begreen]

What????! Dirty glass is not normal for any stove and for certain, not a cat stove. If you have black glass, you can be pretty darned certain it is not the fault of the stove. It is usually the fault of the stove operator and it starts with putting the fuel in the stove. We learned that if we put poor fuel in our vehicles that they do not run properly. Well guess what? The same thing happens with the stove. Put poor fuel in and you get poor results. Try burning some good dry wood and you won't have black glass.

That's a big generalization. FWIW, I seem to remember seasoned vets here saying it is normal for their BK cat stoves to have dirty glass during shoulder season. And I sort of recall Todd saying the same thing for the Keystone. How does one make this statement without owning and running these stoves?

 

[begreen]

Telling someone their wood is the issue when it isn't is confusing, no?

 

[webbie]

I can definitely report that just about every stove I ever had - had the glass get dirty. That includes cat, non-cat, before cat, etc.

Sure, the degree to which they got dirty varied......and how long it took to get so....and whether a hot fire would burn the heavy stuff off afterwards - all that stuff differed. Anyway, this thread is done....