Alterra Pro I3000 Black Glass

[scottvoel]

I am new to wood inserts but had the i3000 installed 2 weeks ago. I love the look but the glass is turning black after 1-2 days. The moisture of the wood is 10-20% and is being burned at a temp of 500-650. Does anyone have suggestion on how to stop this? And now that I have it, an easy way to clean it off without spending an hour or two?

Thank you all in advance.

 

[begreen]

That insert has a big wide glass. Usually the best solution is to burn a bit hotter for an hour or so. Where is the temperature being measured?

 

[scottvoel]

I am having a hard time getting it much higher than 680 or so which doesn’t seem to do any good at getting the black off. The temperature probe for the catalytic is located in the front left area (nearish to glass).

 

[begreen]

Is this the cat temp or stove temp? If it is the catalytic temp, it is very low. Usually this is a sign of wet wood that is poorly seasoned.

 

[kborndale]

How did you measure the moisture content of the wood? Did you grab an ax and resplit the piece of wood so that you can measure the inside of the wood? If you just measured the outside of the wood you are not getting an accurate reading.

 

[scottvoel]

Based on the manual this is the Cat temp. I got some new wood over the weekend and could get the temp up to 950 or so for periods of time. In reading the manual anything over 500 degrees is considered to be ideal burning. Event at 950 the the glass was not coming clean. I fear I'm going to have to put some elbow grease in and scrub the creosote off the glass.

I had not considered splitting the wood but I will attempt that tonight when I get home.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

Based on the manual this is the Cat temp. I got some new wood over the weekend and could get the temp up to 950 or so for periods of time. In reading the manual anything over 500 degrees is considered to be ideal burning. Event at 950 the the glass was not coming clean. I fear I'm going to have to put some elbow grease in and scrub the creosote off the glass.

I had not considered splitting the wood but I will attempt that tonight when I get home.

if you got 20% on the outside without splitting you are in for a surprise. My guess is you are around 30%

 

[stoveliker]

Based on the manual this is the Cat temp. I got some new wood over the weekend and could get the temp up to 950 or so for periods of time. In reading the manual anything over 500 degrees is considered to be ideal burning. Event at 950 the the glass was not coming clean. I fear I'm going to have to put some elbow grease in and scrub the creosote off the glass.

I had not considered splitting the wood but I will attempt that tonight when I get home.

Cat temp is not relevant for window cleanliness. Firebox temperature is.

In fact,. smoldering a firebox of fuel will make a window dirty but could lead to very high cat temps.

I second the wood moisture concern.

 

[kborndale]

Sounds like wet wood is your biggest issue, as it is with most people when they are new to heating with wood. Get next year's wood now and you won't have this issue next year.

 

[Keith Wheat]

How hot does a firebox need to be to burn the glass clean? I have heard people say that they do not clean their glass; they just burn a hot fire and it comes clean. Is it safe to burn so hot or is the stove likely to be over fired? If one were to burn so hot, is it better to disengage the catalyst while doing so?

 

[stoveliker]

I don't know; it works for me if there is a hot fire going on, with lots of infrared radiating out to me thru the window. Basically burning near the max of what my stove can do.

The temperature of a firebox is rather varying at different places in the box, so is hard to quantify.

 

[begreen]

How hot does a firebox need to be to burn the glass clean? I have heard people say that they do not clean their glass; they just burn a hot fire and it comes clean. Is it safe to burn so hot or is the stove likely to be over fired? If one were to burn so hot, is it better to disengage the catalyst while doing so?

600-650º on the stove door should do it. Put a magnetic thermometer on the face or read it with an IR gun.

 

[Steveh1155]

We just had this same exact stove installed a few days ago and after the first burn had a black and hard coating inside the glass. The only way I could remove it was with a razor blade, just wouldn't come off with glass cleaner, vinegar/ashes or anything else I tried. Subsequent fires have left a much softer brownish black coating that easily comes off. Our wood is dry 15% or less, split oak and a little poplar. Cat temps were as high as 900 degrees, so I too am a little puzzled as to why there's any coating on the glass.

 

[begreen]

A cat temp of 900º is a bit low, especially on a new cat. Typical new cat temps are in the 1400º range. Verify the wood is fully seasoned to its core.

 

[Steveh1155]

I read the owners manual again and see that it cautions against building too hot a fire the first 5 or 6 times you use it, but also states later that " if you burn the unit too slowly or too low a setting your unit will not be operating as efficiently as it can. An easy rule of thumb says that if your glass is clean, catalytic thermostat is active and flue is clean. Burn the stove hot enough to keep your glass clean and catalytic combustor, you won't need to clean your flue as often." So yeah, burning the stove hot enough is the answer.

 

[Kat1285]

How is everyone that owns the i3000 liking their insert? Any positives and negatives about the unit?
We are debating between this unit and the Travis Large Flush Insert.

 

[Steveh1155]

Overall we like it. It will burn for hours on a load of wood and seems like it will heat the entire house if we needed. The build quality seems very good. The only downside I've noticed is that we always have to clean the glass after every burn regardless of how hot the stove got. When we had just a regular fireplace with glass doors, we never had to clean the inside of the glass doors. I imagine that most high efficient inserts have that problem, but not a deal breaker.

 

[Kat1285]

Overall we like it. It will burn for hours on a load of wood and seems like it will heat the entire house if we needed. The build quality seems very good. The only downside I've noticed is that we always have to clean the glass after every burn regardless of how hot the stove got. When we had just a regular fireplace with glass doors, we never had to clean the inside of the glass doors. I imagine that most high efficient inserts have that problem, but not a deal breaker.

Thank you for the reply. Is this your first wood burning insert? Have you re-split the wood and checked the moisture content on the inside of the wood?

 

[cbscout]

if you got 20% on the outside without splitting you are in for a surprise. My guess is you are around 30%

I've had wood suppliers not know this. Before I had them deliver asked to verify the moisture content, and they measured on the end of the split. I would get a triumphant statement of a record low percentage. I was really new to burning and told them they needed to do a fresh split for accurate measurement, and I would get raised eyebrows when they found the difference in moisture content.

 

[begreen]

I've had wood suppliers not know this. Before I had them deliver asked to verify the moisture content, and they measured on the end of the split. I would get a triumphant statement of a record low percentage. I was really new to burning and told them they needed to do a fresh split for accurate measurement, and I would get raised eyebrows when they found the difference in moisture content.

I've seen the same thing locally, more than once.