Advice - Glass Staining On Stove

tanka006

Hi Guys,

I hope one of you can advise on a serious glass door staining problem on a recently installed insert stove.

Its a Henley Faro 700 18KW boiler version.

As you will see from the attached picture, we are having very heavy staining on the glass door.

We are burning kiln dried ash logs & ecobrite smokeless coal.

The staining is so heavy we need to take a brillo pad & lost of elbow grease to get it off.

We have tried the following:

Leave the door unlatched till its fully lit
Burn only logs
Burn only coal

Anyone have any ideas?

Many thanks

Tanka

HeidiHeidi

Are you sure the logs are dry? Or that you're not lighting it with the inside of the glass still wet from cleaning?

Looks very like what I did to my stove glass when I cleaned it and forgot to dry it off.

Or else what happens when I close it down to almost fully shut to keep the fire in when I'm going out for a while.

tanka006

Hi HeidiHeidi,

Yes the logs are totally dry - around 14% moisture.

The glass is totally dry - this is the reason for trying it with the door ajar till it lights up fully.

I should have added that the airwash is open too!

Thank You

Tanks

darconio

When was the last time you had your chimney swept?

tanka006

Hi darconio,

It was swept only six weeks ago - just before we put in the stove.

Thanks

Tanka

cranefly

Try building the fire up at the back of the stove like a pyramid, as you said leaving the door ajar until it is fully lit is a good way of keeping the smoke from the glass.
Try the stoves manual and see if their is an air wash facility, i dont know that type of stove, maybe their is some control on the stove that you have overlooked. Hope this helps as their is nothing worse on a new stove to have the glass all stained.

tanka006

Hi cranefly,

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately we have already tried this too!

There is an airwash system on this stove & it's been tried from closed to half to fully open - very little difference in this staining.

Any more ideas very welcome - before my wife rips it out!!

Tanka

Patricia Meath

Have you tried cleaning it with the ashes from the fire- dab some on J- Cloth and clean the glass. It works a treat.

kavanagh_h

Ashes really work. Wet a piece of kitchen roll and dip it in ashes from burnt wood only as coal might scratch. Its like magic.Cif also works well. Both have to be better on glass than brillo!

Conbhar

Not a joke but have you tried using used tea bags to clean it, works a treat.

HeidiHeidi

I think the OP is trying to find out why the glass is staining so much, not how to clean it!

I'd agree that if the photograph is anything to go by, it most certainly shouldn't be staining that much on a regular basis. I've done something like that to my glass by closing the stove down for too long, but if the fire is burning away the glass stays crystal clear.

OP, have you got back to the manufacturer, or the guys who fitted it?

Sanchez83

From reading your posts you seem to have checked everything.
Has it been like that from day one? It seems that the air wash may be blocked.
This could be a fault in the stove or possibly the installation.Could the installers inadvertently have blocked it from the top outside when fitting with some form of insulation/fire cement etc? The inlet for the secondary air is above the door on top of the stove which you cannot see as the stove is fitted.
The bottom lever which also operates the grate is the primary air.
Opening the secondary air lever on top should then pull that air in that direction across the glass to keep it clean.As it's not cleaning it's obvious that there is no air being pulled leading to the conclusion that it is blocked somehow.
The other lever on top acts as a chimney damper to the best of my knowledge opening and closing a flap in the flue.There is a possibility this may need to be open for the secondary air to work but I'm not sure of this.
Another less likely possibility is the lever for the secondary air has become detached and is actually not opening or closing anything.
My money would be on the fitters blocking it by accident on fitting.

tanka006

Hi All,

Many thanks for all of your comments & suggestions.

HeidiHeidi has hit the nail on the head - we need to find out why the glass is staining so much & hopefully fix it!

Sanchez83 yes it has been like this since day one. I have taken off the surround & have a snall gap between the top of the stove & the bottom of the fireboard. I can put a chisel in this gap - so I know its not blocked by fire cement or insulation - good suggestion about it maybe becoming detached.

When I open the door & look up through the air wash space / gap above the glass door, I can see the "slot" but there are "inserts" in this slot - the location of these "inserts" seem to match exactly where I am having this heavy staining?

The gap between the fireboard & top of stove is circa 10mm - the surround would allow a much bigger gap & hide it - could it be that the gap is too small to allow enough air into the air wash?

I've eliminated the possibility of the surround not allowing enough air through -by running the stove with & without it in place - no difference.

I have been in contact with the supplier who are being very helpful - many experiments to try to eliminate things.

I have also been in contact with Henley & am awaiting a response.

Any more comments / suggestions are welcome.

Thanks to all

Regards

Tanka

srrhino

I bought Vitcas stove glass cleaner product from this site stoveglassexpress.com when I ordered some replacement glass, works wonders. Id say you might get it in your local hardware but if not and you can't fix the problem well worth the investment.

gutteruu

I reckon you've scratched the glass by cleaning it with a brillo pad. The glass surface is now rough causing soot to build up.

virgo69

Have you tried cleaning it with vinegar?