Last night had no issues with temp stalling or drops. I took out most ash and made certain the restrictor plate hole was clear. I can see the wood in the path of the restrictor plate hole gets a hole in it, so I could definitely tell it was clear tonight. If I lay the wood directly on top of each other E/W, I'm wondering if that chokes off the fire too. It's easier to stack that way, but then I bet the air from the restrictor plate hole can't go anywhere. In the manual somewhere, it says there should be a clear path from the restrictor plate hole to the back of the stove.
The Regency CI2600 & CI2700 operation thread
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Don't recall seeing that about the airflow in the manual, but definitely have noticed different behavior if the intake is blocked by a piece of wood (until a hole gets burned through it just like you said).
I think it does choke it some and definitely for me too easier to stack EW as most of my cuts/splits are around 16-20"
In the future, I'll need to cut at like 12-14" in order to go NS (with longer EW stacked on top). I DO think this is the better way to orient - just not something I've convinced myself of yet when I'm processing an entire tree or two - call me lazy, but 12-14" cuts feel like it'll take me a year to cut and split a tree or two.
I think it does choke it some and definitely for me too easier to stack EW as most of my cuts/splits are around 16-20"
In the future, I'll need to cut at like 12-14" in order to go NS (with longer EW stacked on top). I DO think this is the better way to orient - just not something I've convinced myself of yet when I'm processing an entire tree or two - call me lazy, but 12-14" cuts feel like it'll take me a year to cut and split a tree or two.
Hi everyone! I'm a newbie! New to wood burning fireplace inserts, new to this forum and the new CI2600 owner. So I've got a lot to learn. To that end, I've been reading over the last couple of years of post and finding some really interesting topics and helpful information. I looking forward to learning more and sharing anything I learn. However, I will apologize up front for bringing up any topic that may have already been broached. So much to know!
Cheers and hopefully, no smoke!
Cheers and hopefully, no smoke!
I'm a newbie here too. Hoping to learn something!
We just had our CI2600 installed about a month ago. The door gasket looks about the same, just a little sloppy mfg. I'd say. Seems to seal ok though.
Another issue we've had is the blower has become intermittent on Auto, sometimes works, sometimes not, mostly not. Installer seems to think it's a thermo sensor position issue. I have the installer coming back tomorrow to check a leveling issue plus blower issue and will point out the gasket to him and see what he says.
One other thought on the blower. Is it just me, or maybe just our unit, but does anyone else out there find the blower to be extremely noisy on high speed? Really annoying when trying to watch tv or have a conversation.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts/advise!
Removing the andirons you can fit approx 16" pieces N/S. I will need to measure the box and then make sure I know where on my chainsaw bar will be just under that length. Wow did the stove work awesome going N/S. The entire cat glowing, maintaining 1100F with the blower on high. Cat at 300F this morning, blower still on high. Set the air to wide open, got a flame going on a coal! E/W it's difficult to get a really hot fire. I watched the video here (https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/getting-a-good-draft.171727/#post-2307185) and I think their explanation of the primary air coming from the top makes sense why N/S is going to be better. I may try some N/S smaller fires and then toss on some big splits E/W before going to bed.
We just started using this stove this season. I have some super basic questions.
1. I understand when to engage the catalyst. I am confused about what happens on a long burn when the catalyst temp drops to 400 or so. is the catalyst inactive even though I have been burning and plan to add more wood?
2. Should there always be a flame or is it best to run the stove with coals before adding more wood after a couple of hours? Ensuring a flame requires pretty regular reloading.
I am trying to understand the most efficient fuel use.
Thanks for any tips!
1. I understand when to engage the catalyst. I am confused about what happens on a long burn when the catalyst temp drops to 400 or so. is the catalyst inactive even though I have been burning and plan to add more wood?
2. Should there always be a flame or is it best to run the stove with coals before adding more wood after a couple of hours? Ensuring a flame requires pretty regular reloading.
I am trying to understand the most efficient fuel use.
Thanks for any tips!
New here too and with only a little over a month w/CI2600 probably can't offer much but here's my take:
I try and get a good load of wood going about 11-12PM if I want it to go all night. I close down the cat. damper and air ctl. as suggested. About 6 hrs later when I come out to fire it up again, I've found the temp. anywhere from 300-500, usually somewhere in the middle. I open everything up, give it a few minutes to get some air, depending upon how much red coals I see may stoke it a little, may add a little kindling, load in some wood, just push the door too for a short time, give it a little time to catch and off we go again.
I don't know if the cat. is still active at below 500 or not, all I've read says probably not, it should be some where between 500-700 to be active. But I don't think they expect us to get up at 3 or 4AM to load more wood to keep the temp up, hope not, in any case it "ain't happen'."
I don't know how people are getting loner than about 4-6 hrs. of usable heat out of these things cause I'm not. So far I've not been impressed w/the amount of heat out put after about 4 unattended hrs., its marginal and we're only trying to heat about 1K sf. We do a vaulted ceiling however so that doesn't help. The best I hope for now in the AM is enough residual heat and coals to start it up again and so far that has not been a problem.
Sorry for the ramble, hope this has answers some of your questions. BTW, what model do you have?
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
What type of wood are you burning and whats the moisture content? How are you loading the firebox?
Well seasoned oak, 2-3yrs old, maybe too seasoned but seems to burn well and all I have now. I don't know the moisture content because I don't have a meter yet but plan to look for one. I think the wood is dry enough as we get a lot of heat on a full bore burn and doesn't seem to smoke too much until I close it down for a long burn. But correct me if I'm wrong, wouldn't a high moisture content create a lot of smoke and just burn at a slower pace.
I load it length wise, E/W I guess, as this wood was cut for a large fireplace, have only run across a few pieces that would fit N/S.
Thanks for any advice.
Update, bought a moisture meter today. It's an inexpensive one but does seem to work. I've tested a couple a couple of pieces of dry seasoned oak several times and it has consistently showed about 10-12% in one spot and 12-14%. Does that seem like a reasonable number for dry wood? Is there a way simple way to test the meters calibration? Thanks.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
put meter probes to the palm of your hand it should read near 35%, The proper operation for testing wood is to take a room temp split, resplit the piece and test the fresh face going with the grain, also making sure the probes are pushed into the wood well.
Check on the split sides. I haven't re-split/re-checked any yet will give that a try. Thanks.
Hello gang. New here but read all of the discusion and learned alot. Got the Ci2600 two months ago and it is really a beast. Like some of you I have the glass getting black but using dryer wood made a big difference.
My only issue is that I am getting so much dust in the house. I just did the dollar bill test and ended up taking a shim off on the handle side. Hope this will help in keeping the house cleaner and maybe improve the efficiency.
Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing your experiences.
My only issue is that I am getting so much dust in the house. I just did the dollar bill test and ended up taking a shim off on the handle side. Hope this will help in keeping the house cleaner and maybe improve the efficiency.
Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing your experiences.
Welcome. Yes, dry wood makes a big difference and in any stove and particularly in modern stoves.
Dust in the house seems more common with flush inserts. This appears to be because the blower intake is down low and pulls in ash and dust in from the insert. To minimize this problem always turn off the blower before opening the door and clean off the ashlip and hearth completely in front of the insert before turning the blower back on.
Thank you everyone for the terrific insights here. We got our Regency installed a little more than a month ago and the tips here were invaluable. Encountered a lot of the same issues that us newbies have... burn efficiency, buildup on glass, etc, but I think we finally have the hang of it. One thing I have not seen discussed is a little strange and wanted to ask it here. My wife, who works from home, has been complaining of lung pain -- says she feels like she's smoked a few packs of cigarettes if she's mostly staying inside the house while we have this running. We were away a few days and she felt better, but now that we're back home, she's having the lung pain again when she breathes. I don't have this issue; then again, I don't work at home. Anyone know why this could be?
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Assuming your stove has no ash dump, and you shovel the ashes out of the stove, technique makes a difference in the amount of ash that escapes.
Different stove, but I used a long, shallow pan which I held under the door with one hand so that any escaping ash dust would get sucked back into the stove (works better with air control closed, and cold outside temp provides the strongest draft.) Then I scraped the big coals to the back of the box with the side of the shovel. Then got a shovel-full of ash, put the end of the shovel in the bottom of the pan, tilted the shovel up and carefully slid the ash off into the bottom of the pan while moving the shovel down the length of the pan. if you haphazardly dump the ashes off the shovel into a deep bucket, a lot of dust floats off into your house. I got pretty good at sliding 'em off the shovel, and seldom had much ash dust at all escaping. I had the pan resting on a cardboard box here, so I could snap a pic.
griam01
Member
Could it be the dryness in the air from running the stove? I work from home and manage the fireplace. I have two humidifiers running in the room where the stove is to try to combat the dry air. I should probably have a larger and possibly another small one in my office that I work out of which is in the room next to where the stove is. I notice if I don’t run the humidifier my skin and nose is really dry. Can’t say that my lungs hurt but she may present differently with the dry air. Just a thought.
You know what, I wonder if it is the dryness as you said? We definitely both experience dry noses and skin, but maybe she's more sensitive. I will dig out our humidifier from the basement and see if she feels a difference. Thank you for the suggestion.
griam01
Member
Anytime! I know after a day or so of not running the humidifier I can really feel it in my sinuses. I hope it helps.
Has anyone else noticed a loss in temp when using the fan? I was around 900, then turned the fan on low (since the auto is busted) and within minutes I dropped to the 730s. I turned the fan off and 10 mins later I'm back in the 880s. Bypass closed, damper open. Is this normal?
Yes, I've noticed that there can be some drop in temp also but never really paid attention to how much. My simpleton guess is that the temps drops because once the fan starts pulling in much cooler air from inside the room it mixes with the much, much hotter air collected around the fire box so that there is a drop in the output temp. And yes, it can go back up or down, depending on where the fire is in its burn stage.
As I said, just my simple guess.
Anyone else want to weigh in?
Happy New Year to all!
Thanks GA Wood Burner. So it got better throughout the evening. After an initial drop in temps, it would rise again. I figured out some things. Ive seen glass build up as well as coal (not ash) build up, like others have seen. I'm starting to think some of my splits aren't as dry as my meter claims. I tried some older wood (larger pieces) and was able to get it around 900-1000 for quite a while. This stove loves to burn hot. Once hot, it was cooking nicely.
Happy New Years to all.
Happy New Years to all.
Yes, these things are capable of putting out a tremendous amount of heat. The reason I bought it was to augment the heat pump in really cold temps! Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your perspective, so far this winter, N.GA just hasn't had the kind of cold temps experienced the last few years. So, we're not using it as much as expected now, that may change later however. As for glass build up, yes, keeping on a boil certainly helps there.
Good luck!
Hello- we are about a month into ownership of the CI2600. It's up at our cabin so we use it only on the weekends when up there. I have a couple questions:
After installation - unit is level on all accounts, including the door, but the door swings open almost all the way and wont stay in a cracked open position. I end up bracing open on startup to get more air for combustion or semi-latch the door. The installer came back out and tried a few things, but still the same result. Any thoughts?
Also, the longest burn I get is about 4-5 hours overnight. Temps in the low 30s, 20 ft insulated liner, tried N/S only, E/W, and a mix, wood is about 16%. Maybe the splits are cut too small? Also have a vaulted ceiling so will be adding in a ceiling fan to help circulate the air as the loft gets almost too hot.
Any thoughts appreciated, thanks!
After installation - unit is level on all accounts, including the door, but the door swings open almost all the way and wont stay in a cracked open position. I end up bracing open on startup to get more air for combustion or semi-latch the door. The installer came back out and tried a few things, but still the same result. Any thoughts?
Also, the longest burn I get is about 4-5 hours overnight. Temps in the low 30s, 20 ft insulated liner, tried N/S only, E/W, and a mix, wood is about 16%. Maybe the splits are cut too small? Also have a vaulted ceiling so will be adding in a ceiling fan to help circulate the air as the loft gets almost too hot.
Any thoughts appreciated, thanks!
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