Window Sooted Over

[TrailRunner]

I have a new 33 Elite insert, which I have been getting used to. (I've never had a stove before.) At 11PM I had a real good bed of coals. I cut the oxygen air control all the way back and had enough hot coals at 7AM that I could restart the fire. So, I thought I had a good handle on how to build the fire and maintain the proper mixture of air.

But, then the windows sooted over after 2 days of continual use. Yep, the Newbie has a lot to learn and is ready to listen. I can't say what the flue temp is, but I can say that I've been cutting the air control back so there is flame, but not a lot. (The air control is about half way out.) What advice do you have for me? Thanks in advance. My hunch is the problem is I have been putting too much wood in and slowing the fire down too much.

Before you ask, the wood is seasoned. The wood is 2 years old, but it's left out uncovered.

Dan

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

if you have proper draft, and you turn the stove down in the right moment, you should not get black on the windows. If you have insufficient draft, there is not enough air for the airwash to work properly, if you cut it down to soon, it doesnt have the internal temps to get secondary combustion going, and the glass soots. up.
Im sure there could be other factors, but these two are what come to mind.
ash on the glass is common, soot on the glass is not.

 

[TrailRunner]

Mountain Stove,

Thanks for the comments. Obviously, I thought I had enough draft for the secondary burn to work properly. I think for now I'll err on the side of not controlling the burn back much. Windex did nothing against what was on the windows. I had to use some of the ash and water to get it off.

Dan

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I got some soot on my glass from a leak.

Make sure your gasket seals completely.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

like you said, your just shutting the stove down to soon. I usually wait untill i have large coals before i turn it down, at that point i can put a split in on top and turn it all the way down and it keeps clean. Ash and water are better then windex, simple green works well too.

 

[Hogwildz]

If your splits are up close to the window, that will soot it up also. I try to cut my splits so that they sit about 2 or 3 inches away from glass minimum.
I too also was in need of door adjustment (brand new insert) and before I did adjust it, the glass got black around where the leaks were. Which was the entire left side & bottom of door.

 

[kevinmoelk]

How much soot are we talking about here? Maybe I'm doing something wrong myself, but it seems no matter what I do I always end up with 3/4" to 1" of soot on the left and right edges of the glass. The rest of the glass stays nice and clean. So.... am I doing something wrong? OR... Is that the "nature of the beast"?

-Kevin

 

[Hogwildz]

How much soot are we talking about here? Maybe I'm doing something wrong myself, but it seems no matter what I do I always end up with 3/4" to 1" of soot on the left and right edges of the glass. The rest of the glass stays nice and clean. So.... am I doing something wrong? OR... Is that the "nature of the beast"?

-Kevin

Wrench,
Mine stays fairly well clean SINCE adjusting my door. Before that I had black soot on the lower corners & left side near the edges due to air leaks at the gasket & door mating surface. Have you tried the dollar bill test? That how I found exactly where my door was snug & loose. Only thing I get now is soot if splits are close to glass, leaves a silouette of the split on the glass. Other than that I get a light fogging or haze here and there, prolly from my moist wood & too close to glass.

 

[kevinmoelk]

HW, I have done the dollar bill test and I pass. I think if anything my soot has to do with the quality of the wood I'm burning... which is not the greatest. I might indeed be burning too close to the glass. I'll try setting up towards the back of the stove for a week and see how that goes. Still, I feel as though others on the forum have some mild soot build up on the glass. Like all things with these stoves, the variables are numerous. All things being equal, I'd bet the design of the stove has a lot to do with how much soot builds up. The fact remains too, that if soot never built up then why would you ever need to clean your glass?

-Kevin

 

[Hogwildz]

True true, I too am burning lesser than optimal wood. And I know for me its between that & closeness to glass that I get mostly the light white fogging or haze. Cleans off easily. I have been cutting my splits so that they sit inside the fron ledge completely, even an inch or so back. The wetter wood def has a place in this.

 

[jeff in pa]

When I was doing the burn in procedure on my new stove I got black soot (creosote) all over the window doing the 200 F burn in. It was a black mess. I tried to clean it off and gave up after some effort.

When I burned the subsequent hot fires, the black soot burned off and I have never seen it again. My point is, don't burn too much time / effort / elbow grease, cleaning. Burn the next hot fire and it will soften or disappear.

I now get a consistent light haze which simply wipes off with a damp cloth.

As to the problem as a whole, make sure you get a really good bed of coals and good stabilized (not increasing or decreasing) secondary burn going before dropping the air for the overnight.

Jeff in PA

Jotul Oslo 500

 

[TMonter]

Oh how I wish my 3100i had an airwash system.

 

[TrailRunner]

I'll check for leaks and follow the advice you all gave.

Dan

 

[jjbaer]

HW, I have done the dollar bill test and I pass. I think if anything my soot has to do with the quality of the wood I'm burning... which is not the greatest. I might indeed be burning too close to the glass. I'll try setting up towards the back of the stove for a week and see how that goes. Still, I feel as though others on the forum have some mild soot build up on the glass. Like all things with these stoves, the variables are numerous. All things being equal, I'd bet the design of the stove has a lot to do with how much soot builds up. The fact remains too, that if soot never built up then why would you ever need to clean your glass?

-Kevin

Wrench,

I use an incense stick or a small butane flame and run it by the doors while the stove is running to see if they leak. Reason why is because there could be a minor seal leak that's present when no dollar bill is used but that "disappears" when the dollar bill is inserted.......only the flame test finds this for me.