Advice / Review need: Regency CI2600 fireplace insert risky & costly?

[Jonny006]

Also if you have this stove, check to be sure the knockout plates for the airkit have been removed. The rep told me that they are now shipped this way but some were sent out with them in. This creates a venturi effect that increases airflow I was told. I did not notice a huge change but it did a little something.
Part of my problem lies in the fact that I have insane draft. Negating the need for extra airflow. At least that's my hypothesis.

 

[marty22877]

So ive been doing some experimenting and it seems if you dig a trench from the front to the back like the book says youre going to whip through some firewood quick, like a full load down to coals in 2 hours. Now if you rake the coals in front of the air port in the middle you will get much slower burn times because of obviousless air . At 2.5 hours im about half full.

 

[Wolves1]

I am new to hearth.com but been following for a few years. I've been burning for 12 years. I had a quadra fire 3100i and I just bought the ci2600. My cousin is the dealer and he also installed it for me. One thing he told me to do is where the door closes the latch you need to take one washer from the top and the bottom off at a time, then after a few fires take another washer off from the top and the bottom till you fully break in the gasket. I forgot all about it as soon as I did it I noticed a big difference with the flame. This Saturday was cold and I put in five pieces of wood at 8 o'clock in the morning up until 3pm the fan was still running, I could've probably put another three to four pieces in. But I feel I can get more out of it, The flame still seems a little too much for it being completely closed so any tips is very much appreciated. I also want to take at the time to thank everyone on this form been following for several years and I've learned a lot. Thank you.

 

[begreen]

Welcome Wolves1. How have your burn times been since removing the washers?

 

[Wolves1]

About 8 hours with the stove 70% full but that is heat not fire. Still looks like the fire is getting to much air but there is an improvement, I have set of two more washers to go. If you take them off all at once you can't close the door, that's why one set at a time.

 

[Jonny006]

I am new to hearth.com but been following for a few years. I've been burning for 12 years. I had a quadra fire 3100i and I just bought the ci2600. My cousin is the dealer and he also installed it for me. One thing he told me to do is where the door closes the latch you need to take one washer from the top and the bottom off at a time, then after a few fires take another washer off from the top and the bottom till you fully break in the gasket. I forgot all about it as soon as I did it I noticed a big difference with the flame. This Saturday was cold and I put in five pieces of wood at 8 o'clock in the morning up until 3pm the fan was still running, I could've probably put another three to four pieces in. But I feel I can get more out of it, The flame still seems a little too much for it being completely closed so any tips is very much appreciated. I also want to take at the time to thank everyone on this form been following for several years and I've learned a lot. Thank you.

Oh yea. Did that too. Removed one washer top and bottom. Still waiting for my reducer plate. Really hope it will solve the problem.

 

[Wolves1]

Oh yea. Did that too. Removed one washer top and bottom. Still waiting for my reducer plate. Really hope it will solve the problem.

Can't wait to know how the reducer plate works. I'm not sure where the plate would go? You said something about removing the knock out plate for fresh air kit. Is that for fresh air form outside? I'm not setup for fresh air outside. Do I need to remove the knock out plate if it didn't come that way? If I do where is it located, it doesn't say anything in the manual about.

 

[marty22877]

So it was 27 degrees out today so i loaded the stove up, engaged thecat and dampered it down, left and came back 5 hours later and no coals and even the blower was off. I reallyhope we get a fix quickbecause im whipping through wood fast.

 

[Jonny006]

So it was 27 degrees out today so i loaded the stove up, engaged thecat and dampered it down, left and came back 5 hours later and no coals and even the blower was off. I reallyhope we get a fix quickbecause im whipping through wood fast.

OK. The air plates are on the left and right sides of the stove. You will have to remove the surround to get to them and they have to be pried out. They are laser cut into the stove shell. If you had an outside air kit they would be removed and the piping would go in. Since you don't have that, by removing them it pulls the air in regardless but at a slower rate so I am told. There is no mention in the manual of this or the washers on the latch..
The reducer plate goes in to the firebox at the front center where that small lip is. I was told there are two bolts that need to be backed out and the plate fits in then it is bolted back together. I guess it is a smaller hole than what's there and slows down the air or it's larger. I really don't know for sure. I just know that's where it goes.
As I type this my stove is 900F and is incinerating wood. I filled it an Hr ago and the wood is half gone.

 

[Grisu]

As I type this my stove is 900F and is incinerating wood. I filled it an Hr ago and the wood is half gone.

Where do you read that temp? If that is stovetop the stove is repeatedly overfiring. Or do you have a cat probe?

 

[marty22877]

Jonny when are you getting the plate?

And thatsounds exactly like mine

 

[Wolves1]

OK. The air plates are on the left and right sides of the stove. You will have to remove the surround to get to them and they have to be pried out. They are laser cut into the stove shell. If you had an outside air kit they would be removed and the piping would go in. Since you don't have that, by removing them it pulls the air in regardless but at a slower rate so I am told. There is no mention in the manual of this or the washers on the latch..
The reducer plate goes in to the firebox at the front center where that small lip is. I was told there are two bolts that need to be backed out and the plate fits in then it is bolted back together. I guess it is a smaller hole than what's there and slows down the air or it's larger. I really don't know for sure. I just know that's where it goes.
As I type this my stove is 900F and is incinerating wood. I filled it an Hr ago and the wood is half gone.

I just put 8 logs in first time just hit 1000 and going up and I closed all air at 800 will let you know tomorrow morning how it went. I have the cat thermometer inside the stove it's the condar digital thermometer.

 

[Jonny006]

Where do you read that temp? If that is stovetop the stove is repeatedly overfiring. Or do you have a cat probe?

Temp measured with a Condor cat probe which is a Regency accessory.
The plate is being manufactured by the company I was told and I am eagerly awaiting it's arrival.
Another thing I am noticing is the coal bed is massive. This am, 6hrs after loading it, the stove is it's usual state of barely any heat and the bed of coals. The bed of coals is super thick. Like 5" of packed dense matter. If i put a shovel in there it's really difficult to churn it up. When I do the heat kicks up and the bed turns super hot. If I put in a split the piece is on fire within seconds. The other day I left the bed to allow the stove to go out. 9hrs later the bed was still there. Not as hot but still hot enough to start a new fire without any issues. I still scooped out and removed a half bucket of hot coals and ash.
So, if this is holding that much heat why is it not transferring into the stove as warmth? And why is it turning into such a dense bed of coals? Is this still air related? I guess I will find out. I am tired of obsessing over this stove. I was really hoping that I could just load it 2-3 times every 24hrs and heat my home. Thus far this is not the case.

 

[Wolves1]

Filled the stove at 9:30pm, at 6:00am still had lots of hot coals blower was on temp in stove 450. 8 1/2 hours don't know how much longer it would've gone blowing hot air?

 

[Wolves1]

Temp measured with a Condor cat probe which is a Regency accessory.
The plate is being manufactured by the company I was told and I am eagerly awaiting it's arrival.
Another thing I am noticing is the coal bed is massive. This am, 6hrs after loading it, the stove is it's usual state of barely any heat and the bed of coals. The bed of coals is super thick. Like 5" of packed dense matter. If i put a shovel in there it's really difficult to churn it up. When I do the heat kicks up and the bed turns super hot. If I put in a split the piece is on fire within seconds. The other day I left the bed to allow the stove to go out. 9hrs later the bed was still there. Not as hot but still hot enough to start a new fire without any issues. I still scooped out and removed a half bucket of hot coals and ash.
So, if this is holding that much heat why is it not transferring into the stove as warmth? And why is it turning into such a dense bed of coals? Is this still air related? I guess I will find out. I am tired of obsessing over this stove. I was really hoping that I could just load it 2-3 times every 24hrs and heat my home. Thus far this is not the case.

What was the temp in the stove this morning and how full was it, about how many pieces of wood?

 

[marty22877]

Jonny - same thing I see, I have to let that bad burn down a lot because its just dense charcoal.

Wolves - what was your outside temp? I saw that when it was in the 40s, last night was in the teens and it was out when I came down 7 hours later

 

[Wolves1]

Jonny - same thing I see, I have to let that bad burn down a lot because its just dense charcoal.

Wolves - what was your outside temp? I saw that when it was in the 40s, last night was in the teens and it was out when I came down 7 hours later

When I filled the stove it was 27 outside temp then dropped to 22 over night.

 

[marty22877]

Have you just taken off one set of washers and that's it?

 

[Wolves1]

Have you just taken off one set of washers and that's it?

No I took a set of 3 total, but took one set at a time. I would take 1 set wait a few days. If you take to many off at once you may have a hard time closing the door.

 

[marty22877]

Gotcha, ive only got one off so far, planning to take the second off tomorrow.

 

[woodstove guy]

Also if you have this stove, check to be sure the knockout plates for the airkit have been removed. The rep told me that they are now shipped this way but some were sent out with them in. This creates a venturi effect that increases airflow I was told. I did not notice a huge change but it did a little something.
Part of my problem lies in the fact that I have insane draft. Negating the need for extra airflow. At least that's my hypothesis.

Sorry guys! I have been out sick for a few days.
I mentioned last week that I was getting pretty good burn times with my CI2600. I now know this is different to my previous units which were non-cat. I am loving this unit. I am happy to share any tips with you so that you get what i am getting. But I think I had to leave my ego outside before I understood how to operate this. I was treating this the same way I treated my non-cats. Boy, am I embarrassed!! I spoke with the Techs at Regency and they have helped me big time. I am up to 14 hours with a full load of wood. I loaded up around 3:30pm on Monday afternoon then took off for a 12hr shift. When I got in Tuesday morning around 5:15 - 5:30 am all I did was rake over the coals a bit and left the door open and watched the embers really light up the sky!
I threw on some small kindling and closed the door over without latching it shut, and within two minutes my kindling had taken off so i fed it with more small stuff, added some larger pieces and within ten minutes was able to drop on a few pieces of pine to get me going. I shut the door and latched it.
I closed the bypass damper after a couple of minutes, possibly a little earlier than the 20 minutes, but left my draft control open for another half hour or so until my fire was heating the room up. That was my TV time after a long nite!
After a couple of hours I reloaded and went to have some sleep. When I woke up, I just opened up the draft control and away it went. This unit offers me more variables than anything else I used in the past, and I am still learning! My goal is to get to 16 hours!

 

[woodstove guy]

Sorry guys! I have been out sick for a few days.
I mentioned last week that I was getting pretty good burn times with my CI2600. I now know this is different to my previous units which were non-cat. I am loving this unit. I am happy to share any tips with you so that you get what i am getting. But I think I had to leave my ego outside before I understood how to operate this. I was treating this the same way I treated my non-cats. Boy, am I embarrassed!! I spoke with the Techs at Regency and they have helped me big time. I am up to 14 hours with a full load of wood. I loaded up around 3:30pm on Monday afternoon then took off for a 12hr shift. When I got in Tuesday morning around 5:15 - 5:30 am all I did was rake over the coals a bit and left the door open and watched the embers really light up the sky!
I threw on some small kindling and closed the door over without latching it shut, and within two minutes my kindling had taken off so i fed it with more small stuff, added some larger pieces and within ten minutes was able to drop on a few pieces of pine to get me going. I shut the door and latched it.
I closed the bypass damper after a couple of minutes, possibly a little earlier than the 20 minutes, but left my draft control open for another half hour or so until my fire was heating the room up. That was my TV time after a long nite!
After a couple of hours I reloaded and went to have some sleep. When I woke up, I just opened up the draft control and away it went. This unit offers me more variables than anything else I used in the past, and I am still learning! My goal is to get to 16 hours!

Also if you have this stove, check to be sure the knockout plates for the airkit have been removed. The rep told me that they are now shipped this way but some were sent out with them in. This creates a venturi effect that increases airflow I was told. I did not notice a huge change but it did a little something.
Part of my problem lies in the fact that I have insane draft. Negating the need for extra airflow. At least that's my hypothesis.

Hi Johnny. I found out by talking to the techs at Regency that the primary air is separate from the draft control. if as you said you have an insane draft, the reducer is designed specifically for that as far as I am aware. This will probably help, but i think you might also need to use bigger wood and fill that box for the longer burn times. But it depends on the type of burn you are looking for. I did learn that if I want a fast burning hot fire with the bypass open the wood won't last, regardless of the size. But if I want strictly a long burn, I know I can get that. I am happy to try to help you with this. I have learned a lot! Its actually a bit exciting. Like getting a new toy for Christmas!

 

[marty22877]

Was the blower still on when you got home from your shift?

 

[Jonny006]

Hi Johnny. I found out by talking to the techs at Regency that the primary air is separate from the draft control. if as you said you have an insane draft, the reducer is designed specifically for that as far as I am aware. This will probably help, but i think you might also need to use bigger wood and fill that box for the longer burn times. But it depends on the type of burn you are looking for. I did learn that if I want a fast burning hot fire with the bypass open the wood won't last, regardless of the size. But if I want strictly a long burn, I know I can get that. I am happy to try to help you with this. I have learned a lot! Its actually a bit exciting. Like getting a new toy for Christmas!

I am packing the box full of wood. And by full I mean the andirons were removed and the wood is up to the glass. I was told by the tech that this is acceptable and will do no harm so long as you don't slam the door against a protruding log.
I was told today by my dealer that the coal bed is considered "burn time" by the manufacturer. Well, ok. But it's not kicking out any heat so in my book I think that's a load of bs.
The plate should be in tomorrow or fri. When I get it I hope it's an easy install and it's the solution to the problem. The consensus is that it will be.
I understand that you were able to get the fire going with the coals. That's all well and good but was it still throwing out heat? Starting up a fire is not an issue for me. It's the ability of the stove to heat for a set period of time that I'm not happy with. The literature is misleading in making me believe that this stove would heat the house for up to 14hrs. Not just a few hours of intense heat followed by a very long smoldering ash pile that doesn't give off any appreciable heat.

 

[woodstove guy]

Was the blower still on when you got home from your shift?

Marty, the blower was on. The insert had a good bed, and obviously it was certainly cooling but the blower was running. I leave it low all the time so not cooling my insert down too much probably helped there.