Looking for opinions on the condition of my Regency R14

[teakay421]

Hi all,

I've been lurking on this forum for a few months, trying to learn everything I can about wood inserts. We recently moved into a house (~2 years ago) and it came with an older (pre-1993) Regency R14. We tried it out last year and we just loved the heat and the warmth it provided for the house.

This year I'm trying to be smart about it and replacing some old firebricks / cleaning it out before the season starts. When I had the bricks out and the ash vacuumed I noticed that it's rusted in a few places (interior). There are ever some small metal pieces that have rusted out near the top of the box (circled red in the photo) along with what appear to be two small cracks in the air inlet tube in the back (secondary tube?).

I'm just wondering if any of these things are deal-breakers or could we get a few more years out of this 'ole insert. A few parts have been replaced by previous owners -- the baffle plate is only ~3 years old, the blower is about ~7. The door and gasket have also been replaced in the last few years.

Any and all opinions / advice are welcome. Thanks!

 

[begreen]

It doesn't look too bad. I'm not sure what the rusted pieces are. It looks like the locating tabs are intact. Could these pieces have come from the baffle or insulation weights?
I can't see the crack, but believe you. Is this in an area where a smearing of furnace cement would stay and be undisturbed during stove operation?

 

[teakay421]

It doesn't look too bad. I'm not sure what the rusted pieces are. It looks like the locating tabs are intact. Could these pieces have come from the baffle or insulation weights?
I can't see the crack, but believe you. Is this in an area where a smearing of furnace cement would stay and be undisturbed during stove operation?

Thank you very much for the reply!

I think you may be spot-on about the old rust belonging to the baffle or weights. I know they replaced the old baffle a few years ago, but I'm not sure why. And the new one sits right on that spot -- so I wouldn't be surprised if the old one (20+ years) was rusted and falling apart and some if it stuck to the back of the stove.

The cracks are really small and don't go through to the outside of the stove or anything. I assume furnace cement will hold up against the high temperatures? I will look into it, thanks, I hadn't heard of it before. It wouldn't be disturbed during stove operation.

Again, thanks for the insight, much appreciated.