glass cleaner

I think our water is good. If I try some bottled water do you think that would make a difference?

I wonder if anyone has tried to use a product called Rain-X for this purpose. If you're unfamiliar with Rain-X, it works very well to cause a beading of water away from your windshield. It is a clear liquid product that you apply to your windshield which dries rapidly, and then is wiped off with a dry cloth. It is very effective in causing water to bead off of a windshield, so that if you're driving at 30-40 or more miles per hour in the rain, you don't even need to use your windshield wiper, because the water beads off. It is also effective at preventing adherence of bugs, resins, etc., and makes cleaning the windshield much easier as a result.

I have no idea whether it would be safe to use on a clear ceramic surface, such as Robax that is in my stove, but I'm considering applying it to a small area of the glass and seeing if it makes a difference. If I do so, I will put up some pictures of the result.

Obviously, the point here is not to use it to clean the glass, but minimize ash and tars adhering to the glass in the first place.

After almost 1 year of continuous burning here the report on the Window in the Alaska:

There is some etching of the ceramic visible now, last week when I had the stove shut down I scrubbed the window and tried to get all the impurities off. there is a slight hazy coating on the surface, very difficult to remove. I did use coarse rouge and a cloth wheel, got it mostly clean. I recoated it with Butcher's. There are some hazy spots and etching, but it's mostly clear and still easy to clean. No perfectly clear like the hand fired, but I can see the ladies.

I wonder if anyone has tried to use a product called Rain-X for this purpose.

Rain-X is silicone and alcohol, you can try it but I wouldn't apply it when the stove is burning.

is there an anticorrosion glazing coat/paint of some sort to prevent deterioration/further deterioration of pitting?

csstoker wrote:is there an anticorrosion glazing coat/paint of some sort to prevent deterioration/further deterioration of pitting?

Yes, It is called money. Save $20 a year for the next 4 years and buy a new glass every 4 years.

polypropylene is resistant to acids and hi heat but I don't know if it is available as a clear ceramic glaze/paint

Adamiscold wrote:I think our water is good. If I try some bottled water do you think that would make a difference?

Do about four shots of Jack Daniels and chase it with the "bottled water". In just a few minutes you won't care if the glass is dirty or not!

After this cold snap passes I want all of you stoker users with the new stoves to clean your glass and tell me how crystal clear it is and how easy it was to clean. I will bet the orange glow will be the "in" thing!

gambler wrote:After this cold snap passes I want all of you stoker users with the new stoves to clean your glass and tell me how crystal clear it is and how easy it was to clean. I will bet the orange glow will be the "in" thing!

yup.... +1

Rain-X didn't help my crazing problem, but I applied it over the entire interior and exterior surface of the glass last weekend, and I have noticed a definite reduction (not elimination) in the amount of fly ash sticking to the glass. I haven't cleaned off the fly ash in 6 days and the glass is still looking pretty good.

I had a fire in the stove when I applied it, and the glass temp was still somewhat hot. (I did it after loading coal and leaving filldoor open a minute or two.) The product is alcohol based, so could burn (explosively?), so be careful. It hasn't otherwise changed the appearance of the glass.

May be worth a try.

Ashcat wrote: haven't cleaned off the fly ash in 6 days and the glass is still looking pretty good.

You are running a hand fired stove so your glass will be easier to clean and it will stay clear a lot longer.
I am waiting for the results of the stoker glass challenge.

By the way I have always liked the looks of the 983. I thought about putting one in my fireplace that is in my basement.

gambler wrote:After this cold snap passes I want all of you stoker users with the new stoves to clean your glass and tell me how crystal clear it is and how easy it was to clean. I will bet the orange glow will be the "in" thing!

Just cleaned it this morning, been about a week since I had. I'm still pleased with the viewing window clarity. Comes clean with papertowels, no scraping, been burning since late October. Been real cold here for a good bit now. The DVC 500 has made me very happy for my heating choice.

Just did an ash clean out after this Artic cold front has now passed. Cleaned the Magnum Stoker glass and still looks pretty good. Few streaks on the glass from the fast cleaning while hot, but still looking good! I did prep glass at beginning of season with a couple of coats of "Rutland conditioning glass cleaner". But I clean the glass at each ash cleaning with newspaper dampened with hot water from Kettle on stove. Then wipe on Glass collecting some of the ash on it and smears ash around glass then use back side (dry side) of same paper to dry it off and usually comes crystal clear.

My 2 cents worth for stoker cleaning!

Am3bulldog

I cleaned the glass yesterday before relighting the stove after it had been off a couple of days. It came out fine until I mucked it up again relighting the stove (and having a small wood fire in it to warm the chimney some before lighting). I was too lazy to clean it again so maybe this weekend I'll do it.

I just wipe mine down with a dry piece of extra fine steel wool until it feels smooth. You can't reverse any etching or pitting, but it will take off anything stuck to the glass without leaving any streaks.