Dirty glass Northstar

[vk191]

I recently bought a Heat N Glo Northstar wood burning fireplace. The glass gets extremely dirty, quickly. So much so, I have to spend anywhere from 1/2 hour to one hour cleaning it. The buildup is so thick, I have to use a putty knife or razor blade to clean it.

The wood I am burning right now is not the best and is part of the problem, but I also have a Lopi Answer in a second fireplace, burning same wood with very little buildup on the glass. If it is dirty, just a few wipes and it's clean

Am I drawing correctly?

Any advise?

 

[jtp10181]

Get better wood, burn hotter fires.

If you have wood with little moisture and get the firebox temps ripping good the glass cleans itself, pretty much no matter how much crap is on it. I had a customer with exactly the same problem as you and he had one door cleaned and one solid black when I got to his house. I built a fire with MY good wood and within 30 minutes the other door was just as clean as the one he was scraping on for 30 minutes that morning. This was with the exact same fireplace, HNG Northstar.

Get a stove thermometer and you can stick it on the door frame of the unit. You need to get that thing above 500F before you get some good glass cleaning action, possibly up to 600F. I have not tested this method on this unit specifically. Also you can get a low cost IR temperature gun (they are very handy) and check the face temps as well as the firebox temps. I think the best face temp reading is the door frame because the fascia has an air gap behind it.

I would come do a demo fire for you but that would be a little too far to drive

If you have any other questions I have lots of knowledge on this unit, we install many of them up here in WI.

On a side note, the air wash gap on that unit should be adjustable with Alan screws. But you need to do a hot fire with good wood before determining if it needs adjusting. I have never had to adjust one from the factory setting after doing a demo burn with wood from our shop.

I have so many stories.... but this will do for now.