Regency I3100

[Mackle D]

Hi, about a week ago I replaced my Vermont castings winter warm with a regency 3100. I seem to be having a few issues. The heat works great when the air is wide open and the fan is on high, but as soon as I turn the air down the temp really seems to take a dive. Also, I get a nice puff of smoke every time I try to load it up. As soon as I start putting logs on it the smoke starts coming into the room. I've tried opening the back door to get draft going but it doesn't help. Can anyone give some advise to a new 3100 owner?
Thanks

 

[Free BTUs]

How fast are you turning the air down? I gradually turn the air down over about 30 minutes and the temp goes up and then stays high.

 

[Mackle D]

Hi, about a week ago I replaced my Vermont castings winter warm with a regency 3100. I seem to be having a few issues. The heat works great when the air is wide open and the fan is on high, but as soon as I turn the air down the temp really seems to take a dive. Also, I get a nice puff of smoke every time I try to load it up. As soon as I start putting logs on it the smoke starts coming into the room. I've tried opening the back door to get draft going but it doesn't help. Can anyone give some advise to a new 3100 owner?
Thanks

How fast are you turning the air down? I gradually turn the air down over about 30 minutes and the temp goes up and then stays high.

 

[Mackle D]

I thought I was turning the air down slow but I will try a little slower. Do you think about a half an inch at a time over the half hour period? Do you need to wait to see the secondary fire tubes up at the top working before you start turning it down?

Any advise for keeping the smoke out of the room when adding wood?

Thanks

 

[Free BTUs]

1/2" at a time over the 1/2 hour is about right. I load it up with wood, wait about 10 minutes for the wood to be flaming up good and I start seeing secondaries and then start closing the air off. It will depend on how hot the stove is, how dry the wood is, and how good the draft is. Draft will depend on how cold it is out and how windy it is. I usually stop with the air control about 1/2" away from bein fully closed for my setup.

The only time I get any smoke coming out of the insert is if it is fairly warm out (like say 55) or if it is windy out and I am starting off with a cold stove. If I'm starting out with a cold stove then I open the door to my deck and then start the fire. Once the stove has been running up to temp, I have a very strong draft and I never have any more problems. Always open the air all the way before you open the door to do a reload. If I wait too long to do a reload and it is windy out and it looks like there might be a downdraft then I will put a piece of paper on top of the wood and light it with a lighter just to get some quick heat up the flue and get the draft going.

Make sure you shut the blower fan off and wait a few seconds before you open the door to do a reload. Otherwise the fan just sucks the smoke out of the firebox and blows it into your house. Pull the coals to the front of the stove, load the wood, and then close the door until you can just start to engage the handle latch. That will get the air rushing in over the coals and it will ignite the new wood pretty fast and really get the draft going (it sounds like a train). Assuming of course you have dry wood....plenty of threads on that.

BTW, I have the 2400, but my friend has the 3100 and they run pretty much exactly the same. The only difference is the larger firebox and longer burn time. I get 8 hours out of mine on a full load of dry oak.

 

[WES999]

Try leaving the blower off, using it on high will cool the stove quite a bit.
On my Regency, I only use the blower ( on low) when the stove is good and hot (650+)
Don't close the air too fast, 1/4 increments works for me.

 

[KB007]

We just load it up and when the temps hit 550-600 ish close down 1/2 way, wait a few minutes then close it down all the way. Often, we'll let it get hot then close it down all the way in one shot.

We always run the blower on low speed - only time we use High is if the stove is getting a little too hot, then high will cool it fairly quickly.

Have you checked all your burn tubes are in OK and the baffle is installed right (that is on top f the burn tubes and each side pushed outwards towards the sides?

What temps (and where are you taking them) do you see when it's hot / cool?

As for the smoke, +1 on turning off the blower, then re-loading. Sometimes get a little in the house, but I like the wood burning smell, so i don't fuss about it.

 

[Mackle D]

I really appreciate all the advise. I'm going to give it another try tonight with the fan on low and turning the air down a bit slower.

I have never really got my heat over 350 so I was wondering what type of thermometer you all are using and where the proper placement on the stove should be to get a good reading.

Here is a picture of where I have my thermometer.

Thanks again!

 

[KB007]

I'd move it down so it's closer to the door. I have ours on the left side, but I don't think it makes any diff from side to side.

One thing about those magnetic thermometers, they are notoriously inaccurate. If you can, put it in the oven for a while at say 300F and see if it's close. Then you'll know how much to allow when it's on the stove.

 

[Mackle D]

The thermometer in the oven thing is a good idea.

Last night I tried keeping the stove hotter. I was able to keep it around 350 - 400 for a while but as soon as I turn the air down I go down to 300. If I keep the air on high I'm burning through the load in about 3 hours. Maybe it's the wood. I'm burning maple, cherry, and a little bit of locust mixed in.
Thanks

 

[begreen]

When you reduce the air how far are you turning it down before the flames start dying?

 

[KB007]

How big of a load are you putting in there? We fill it up as much as possible and once it gets hot (550-600) we turn down. Once turned down it actually gets hotter (as the secondaries kick in) and will slowly (over a period of hours) go down to 300 ish, but it takes hours.

 

[lsirois]

Hi have a similar stove (HI300) and like other have said, I fill it up when I load it and it slowly close the air down over a period of about ~30 minutes. Well seasoned wood is a must with this stove though. One green piece in the load (or wood that isn't seasoned enough) will make it very difficult to close down the air completely and/or get secondaries.

 

[logger]

I'd give you the benefit of the doubt, but you are an eagles fan. lol. How long has your wood been cut, split, and stacked? Smoke and low temps are common for using wood that has not been split and stacked for 1-3 years depending on species. Did you purchase your wood or do it yourself?

 

[KB007]

So, I got home today and checked the temps on our I3100. We load and get hot - it goes up to between 500-600 on the stove front (magnetic and IR about the same temp). Once it hits that range, we turn down about 1/2 way, it goes up a little more, then turn down all the way. Secondaries kick in and it stays 600 ish for about an hour then slowly drops and seems to plateau around 400-450 and then cruise for a few hours. Eventually it will drop to around 300 ish when it's just coals.

Remember, your temp on the front will be a little lower than the typical stove top temp, so it is prolly running a little hotter than you think based on front temps.

 

[Retreadsme]

FreeBTUs said almost exactly what I would say. My I3100 likes dried wood and prefers oak to be split 4 yrs with the last yr being cured in the woodshed where it is totally dry. Maple, Cherry, Pear, Elm, Pine all need to be 3 yrs old with 1 yr in the woodshed. As others have said, I typically will load it 85% full, let the wood get charred with flame and then start cutting the air back. Time line totally depends on the coal bed, but I almost never run mine at 600 degrees because of the configuration of the house and how the heat is distributed throughout the house. Most of the time the front face above the door will get to 450-500 degrees and then I will cut the air back 25%, when the 2ndaries kick in the air gets cut back to 50%, and then when the flaming dragon shows itself, the air is cut back to maybe 15%.
Typical "cruising temp" for mine will be around 375-400 degrees as measured with an IR gun on the face above the door (left-center-right).

One thing - I really cringe when I read something like, "leave the door open just a bit to get the flame going well". Many people do this and I am NOT trying to "slam" anyone for saying it; however .............
since I have entered the "golden years" of my life, it seems short-term memory nor attention span is as good as it once was. So I only ask everyone, please secure the door on your stove if you are not staying with the appliance, even if you're just going to get a cup of coffee and come back ! Life is good - live it with joy and pleasure.