Purchased a Hampton HI300 in January 2010. A few weeks ago, I went to get it ready for the Fall and found a small crack on the roof of the firebox leading to the flue connector. Submitted a warranty claim and it just got replaced....not charge except for labor I must say, Regency was great about replacing it. In any case, I have always kept an eye on it worried about overheating it when trying to get a good fire going and would run the blower from the start of the fire to keep it from getting too hot. I did do my best to get the secondaries...which meant dry wood and getting the stove hot enough. I also did use it a lot..typically burning a solid 6 cords per year. Obviously now, I can't hep but think that something went wrong somewhere. Either the stove was defective or something got messed up. In any case, I would like input from fellow Hampton HI300 users. Specifically, what is your process for getting a good fire going?
Advice running a Hampton HI300
- Thread starter lsirois
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I'd be interested in how you saw this crack? From the inside of the stove? Through the opening for the hot air?
I do about the same as you as far as running it. I put 5 cords through it a season. I keep the door open til it gets going and I also turn on the fan before the snap disc switch activates. I do that since I got the top glowing one time, as seen through the hot air outlet. The stove is very controllable. I load front to back and pack it pretty full most times. When it's cold or the fire's going real well I put the fan on high. Nothing else I can think of.
I do about the same as you as far as running it. I put 5 cords through it a season. I keep the door open til it gets going and I also turn on the fan before the snap disc switch activates. I do that since I got the top glowing one time, as seen through the hot air outlet. The stove is very controllable. I load front to back and pack it pretty full most times. When it's cold or the fire's going real well I put the fan on high. Nothing else I can think of.
Once the fire is going strong are you able to close the air down until the flames get very lazy? If not, some possible issues that could make controlling the fire hard are:
- too strong draft - how tall is the chimney on the insert?
- too small splits - what are the average split sizes?
- fire packed too loosely - load with large 5-7" splits and put smaller ones in to fill the gaps
- burning construction and pallet wood - mix it with some seasoned large splits.
- too much air being given to the fire - damper it down more so that you aren't looking at the bowels of hell with every fire.
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I actually found the crack by looking inside after cleaning it. I like to take a good look in there before the burning season starts. The wood I use is all hardwood that sits in my yard split and stacked for at least 18 months. The chimney has a 6" liner. It has a solid draft and I can shut the air all the way down once it's going. The chimney is over 30'.
Bingo, that tall chimney is likely the issue. The insert probably should have been installed with a 5" liner to reduce draft strength. Call the dealer out to look at the crack before burning this season to make sure it is still safe to burn in the stove.
Check the door gasket. Mine will take at least 90 minutes to get secondaries going. If you are willing to go on a hunt there is a thread about shutting down a vent that keeps people from closing the stove down too much. I have not closed mine.
The dealer replaced it, according to the first post. He didn't say it was uncontrollable either.
Correct....it got replaced under warranty. The old stove never took anywhere near 90 minutes to get secondaries going. 45 minutes maybe from morning coals to shutting down the air.
90 minutes seems too long. I just started a fire a half hour ago from stone cold, turned fan on low, and it's pretty nice now. I put a fair amount of wood in. I think more full works better, even though it's shoulder season now. Last couple times I did small fires and they didn't work as well as this one is now. I'm looking at some secondaries now-I think I'll bank it down some. 
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