wood burning stove glass

oakidoki

hello , i have had my stove for about 2 months now and have noticed what can only be described as scratches or hairline cracks in the glass, when i rub my nail across the glass i can feel nothing and advice on what this is

zeupater

oakidoki wrote: »

hello , i have had my stove for about 2 months now and have noticed what can only be described as scratches or hairline cracks in the glass, when i rub my nail across the glass i can feel nothing and advice on what this is

Hi

I've had my stove for over 15 years and the glass looks as good as new ......

What are you using to clean the glass and how are you doing it ???

oakidoki

am using like a window wipe should i use somthing else

The_Economist

oakidoki wrote: »

am using like a window wipe should i use somthing else

Use a hob and oven cream cleaner.

ossian

Or better still use
1. newspaper (then use to start fire)
2. Wet Newspaper dipped in fine ash (no harsh remnants of coal). Clean off with dry newspaper.
3. Oven cleaner if really dirty but 2 is usually fine and super cheep

Only light fire when glass is dry.

Can't comment on scratches, sorry

grahamc2003

Any dirt on the inside of the glass should only be formed when the fire is lighting up. When hot, the glass should be clear, and any dirt (soot, tar) should be burnt off.

Tar on the inside means the smoke (which always contains water too) has condensed (happens in the chimneyt too). Firstly, when up to temperature, there should be no smoke in the combustion chamber to condense - again, a sign that either the fire isn't hot enough, or enough air isn't getting through to burn the smoke. Even coal won't smoke when the fires hot and enough air is getting in. If you look at you chimney pot, you should only see a white gas coming out (which is actually water droplets, the other products of combustions being invisible, and certainly no smoke (once the fire is up to temperature). Smoke is simply unburnt hydrocarbons, and if it comes out the top, you can be certain it has condensed into tar inside your chimney and deposited soot.

So use dry wood, and get the stove hot (that's when it's most efficient anyhow), make sure the fire roars. If the room gets too hot, simply let the fire die down - don't choke off the air (which will cause smoke). Once you only have red embers and no chance of smoke, close completely the air input - The stove should keep hot for hours, and your glass should be clear (or possibly have a fine white powder which comes off easily).

edit - also the hairline cracks are probably in the hardened tar on the inside surface of the glass, and not in the glass itself.

zeupater

oakidoki wrote: »

am using like a window wipe should i use somthing else

Hi

I'd agree with ossian on cleaning.

The majority of the time I close the burner down to a slow airwash and leave the fire ticking over through the night, this often leaves a light build-up of a brown discolouration (tar) in the bottom corners of the fire glass. Most of the time the next burn will be hot enough to clean the glass on it's own, but to remove any stubborn build-up I use a wet J-cloth to wash the glass, leave for a minute, then clean with either a very soft (old) nylon scourer (or newspaper) dipped in wood ash. When this has cleaned off the tar, another quick wipe with the wet cloth followed by a dry & polish with scrunched-up dry newspaper brings the glass up crystal clear.

As for the lines (scratches ?), if they weren't a result of the manufacturing process (a high possibility), I'd guess that something hard (grit ?) could have been picked up on the wipe when cleaning ... just check every now and then to see if anything changes .....

As grahamc2003 has posted .... probably the best solution is to ensure that the wood is dry and the combustion is hot enough to burn a high proportion of the volatiles. This will keep the burner glass (&chimney/flue) clean and deliver more heat from each kg of the fuel you are using. After a while you will be able to control the burn by watching the colour, movement & speed of the flames, but I'd suggest that you use a magnetic skin thermometer .... I have a canopy stove and try to maintain a skin temperature on the canopy of around 500F, refuelling at around 375F.

HTH

oakidoki

yeh its not so much that the glass gets dirty it stays clean most the time its the small hairline cracks in it then dont seem to be on the surface though ,could the glass me laminate ,.. i asked on another forum and got this answer (I've noticed this on a few stoves. It's like a crazing pattern. Lots of tiny fractures. I'm not entirely sure what causes it but feel it may be down to use of fuel with high petroleum coke content. It happens over time but if it has happened within 2 months it may be a good idea to change your fuel. Are you running on a lot of smokeless fuel or wood?)

hethmar

The thermometers are very useful. I get my stove on wood up to about 450/500 and keep it around that by just adding occasional logs.

zeupater

oakidoki wrote: »

yeh its not so much that the glass gets dirty it stays clean most the time its the small hairline cracks in it then dont seem to be on the surface though ,could the glass me laminate ,.. i asked on another forum and got this answer (I've noticed this on a few stoves. It's like a crazing pattern. Lots of tiny fractures. I'm not entirely sure what causes it but feel it may be down to use of fuel with high petroleum coke content. It happens over time but if it has happened within 2 months it may be a good idea to change your fuel. Are you running on a lot of smokeless fuel or wood?)

Hi

Mine is over 15 years old and the glass looks as good as new, but I ensure that the temperature doesn't get out of control as too hot a burn can damage the unit. When I bought it the manufacturer showroom (actually the owner/designer) recommended a thermometer and a burn temperature of 500F and not to seriously exceed this temperature for extended periods. What temperature do you burn at ? ......

When you mention hairline cracks which you can't feel, are they around the edges of the glass ? ..... my stove is double glazed, there is the possibility that if yours is too, the glazing is separated by a glass rope seal, so is there the possibility that what you're seeing is fine rope fibres trapped between the glazing ?

HTH

oakidoki

yeh am using a thermometer on the stove pipe the crack like things in the glass can only be seen from an angle as well , i might just get another piece of glass just in case would hate it to go Xmas day arrrr