cleaning glass/stove

Hello fairly new to coal heated with wood for many years any ideas how to keep the door glass clean and how often should the stove be cleaned thankxs

We clean our stove glass at least once a week, and it just takes a quick wipe down with a dry towel. I don't know if that's normal or not, but it works for us. We've been burning the stove for almost two months now and it's always come crystal clean this way. I was surprised...I thought it'd be caked on...but it's not.

ErinMarie wrote:We clean our stove glass at least once a week, and it just takes a quick wipe down with a dry towel. I don't know if that's normal or not, but it works for us. We've been burning the stove for almost two months now and it's always come crystal clean this way. I was surprised...I thought it'd be caked on...but it's not.

Wow...you have to be the exception. Most of us that want to see the fire have to clean every day and with more than a dry cloth.

ErinMarie wrote:We clean our stove glass at least once a week, and it just takes a quick wipe down with a dry towel.

That’s about my schedule also, once a week I give the glass a wipe with a crumbled newspaper sometimes with a little water on it, at this time I also empty the fines tray .
I did notice that during that irritating warm spell the stove spent a lot of time in pilot mode and the glass got a film but at night when it went into heat mode it would clear itself pretty well .

Even cleaning the glass in our Keystoker every other day isn't enough. The fly ash etches the glass making it continuously cloudier. Cleaning process is to scape off build up with a razor blade, while it's hot. After the glass cools, I use news paper and ceramic cleaner, then buff with a felt cloth. It's a pain and I should really doing it every day. I've tried other cleaning methods and it's the only thing I've found that works. The glass that Harmon uses must be something different than Keystoker uses.

Both my Keystoker and Hyfire glass are hazed over, tried keeping them clean as much as possible,
I still try and clean them once a week, but they do build up after a while.

Someone mentioned on another thread that a hand fired stove was easier on the glass than a stoker. I asked why, but no one answered. Is there a difference? Forced combustion air is the only thing I can think of.

av8r wrote:Someone mentioned on another thread that a hand fired stove was easier on the glass than a stoker. I asked why, but no one answered. Is there a difference? Forced combustion air is the only thing I can think of.

The fly ash caused by forced air under the stoker bed is definitely a factor IMO. It also has to do with the design of the stove. My Harman magnum stoker has the vented glass that pulls air across it, plus it is an underfed design with less of the air holes pointing at the glass. It can go for almost a month and I still see the fire nicely.... the Alaska on the other hand was dirty in one day and if I left that a month it would take a scraping with a razor blade to get the ash off.

IMO hand fired more completely burn the coal, have less ash flying around, and are quieter... there I said it... a girlie man admitting that hand fired is the way to go for certain benefits!

I had a problem with my pellet stove it would turn brown from burning inferior pellets and it was very difficult to clean. I tried many different cleaners and found oven cleaner does the job quite well and then finish up with glass cleaner to remove residue.
Wala just like new.

i bought a bare bones channig III and i clean glass not to often. with out sounding mean i do not care if i can not see the fire totaly all i care about is that my 1700 sgft. house is 75 degrees and my furnace is not coming on at all. my channing is a direct vent with coal trol when i get up in morning i look into dinning room and house is warm and i see a glow i know my stove is still running just my 2 cents worth. again i do not mean this reply to be nasty

Ive tried everything to keep my glass clean and gave up I don't clean it anymore... I would have to clean it everyday and scrape it once a month or so i just got tried of it and it would only stay clear for a few hours anyway.. I do miss seeing the fire though.

wally61 wrote:...i do not mean this reply to be nasty

Nothing wrong with just leaving the stove to operate and do it's job. Many of us on here must not have jobs the way we fuss over these stoves and figure out new science projects!

I know what you mean about the glow, I find myself coming down stairs early in the morning and peaking around the corner to make sure the glow in the kitchen is still there.

i gave up to. if i want to see the fire , i open the door for few seconds orange glow is good enough. i called Keystoker couple months back and asked about a little bigger blower. like something around 350 to 400cfm. they said no. so i asked if i could put some aluminum foil in the window air wash area to get a little more air movement. the guy says sure , it really dosen't help anyways. so i put it in and the other night when it was cold the stove was cranking , the glass shattered. looks like car glass , lots of small pieces and some cracks , but it didn't fall apart. it only did it to the side panels. so i took the foil out lol. i see the site broke the record for most online at once. credit goes to you Richard for providing a great site. thank you

the Alaska on the other hand was dirty in one day and if I left that a month it would take a scraping with a razor blade to get the ash off.

Ay-up....that's very true.

Like Erin Marie I have a dvc-500. I clean the glass once a week with a wet towel.
Cleans the glass like new. Since purchasing the dvc-500 last fall cleaning the glass has been
no problem at all.