The Regency CI2600 & CI2700 operation thread

[tadmaz]

4 hour burns isn't good, but 6 with softwoods isn't that out of line. I get 9 or 10 hours with hardwoods. A block off plate would help a lot I think, look back in this post for my example of how I did it. There are plenty of other threads too. When it's 20F or colder I put the blower on high in order to adequately heat the house. Have you tried the blower on high when it's colder? For the smoke, when reloading you open the air up all the way, open the bypass, wait a few seconds, open the door just a crack, wait a few seconds, then open the door slowly. Let us know if you still get smoke with this method.

 

[JRFarmer]

Have you tried the blower on high when it's colder?

Blower on high definitely does a lot of good spreading the heat in my house. It also burns through the wood a whole lot faster, is much louder, and makes the room with the stove unbearably hot. I usually use the high mode when I throw wood into the stove before leaving the house for a few hours, it makes it nice and toasty when you get home.

 

[Mbcik]

4 hour burns isn't good, but 6 with softwoods isn't that out of line. I get 9 or 10 hours with hardwoods. A block off plate would help a lot I think, look back in this post for my example of how I did it. There are plenty of other threads too. When it's 20F or colder I put the blower on high in order to adequately heat the house. Have you tried the blower on high when it's colder?

For the smoke, when reloading you open the air up all the way, open the bypass, wait a few seconds, open the door just a crack, wait a few seconds, then open the door slowly. Let us know if you still get smoke with this method.

Yes I follow that procedure exactly. As an example of the issue, I just reloaded and this time got several head size puffs of smoke into the house. I think the draft is fine because when starting a fire and keeping the door cracked, the roaring gets pretty loud. Arg!

 

[JSeery]

Yes I follow that procedure exactly. As an example of the issue, I just reloaded and this time got several head size puffs of smoke into the house. I think the draft is fine because when starting a fire and keeping the door cracked, the roaring gets pretty loud. Arg!

My guess is until the weather gets much colder than it is now, your draft isn't going to be very strong, which can lead to smoke in the room on reload. You could also try cracking open a nearby window before you reload, as that might help with the draft (especially if your home is tightly insulated).

How far down are you letting the wood burn before you reload? If the wood is basically just coals when you reload, there really shouldn't be anything to create smoke when you reload.

 

[Mbcik]

My guess is until the weather gets much colder than it is now, your draft isn't going to be very strong, which can lead to smoke in the room on reload. You could also try cracking open a nearby window before you reload, as that might help with the draft (especially if your home is tightly insulated).

How far down are you letting the wood burn before you reload? If the wood is basically just coals when you reload, there really shouldn't be anything to create smoke when you reload.

Opening a nearby window doesn’t help. Even when the outside temperature is in the 30s, the problem still persists.

I brought in firewood for 24 hours, split it, then checked the moister level. My drier wood is 17%, the wetter stuff is around 22%. Burning either one causes the problem, though burning the wetter stuff definitely produces more smoke into the house.

For most of you, if you are burning good dry wood, how long can you keep the wood stove door open without getting smoke into the house? Seems like when I first bought the unit, I could leave the door open for a minute or two without any smoke coming into the house.

 

[JRFarmer]

For most of you, if you are burning good dry wood, how long can you keep the wood stove door open without getting smoke into the house?

The only time there is possibility of smoke coming into the house is when I'm first starting the fire... Cat bypassed, damper fully open, I build a small fire with kindling and leave the door ajar. After letting it burn down for a while to create some coals, I'll open the door wide to add a log, and this is when I can get some smoke, because the fire isn't very efficient yet and there's probably still some cold air in the chimney. Close the door and let the log catch.

Fast forward 2 hours... Cat engaged, damper fully closed. I've let the log burn down to coals. There are no flames, just an orange glowing coal bed. There is no smoke. Coals don't really create smoke. I can open the door wide, no smoke comes out. I knock down the big pieces of coal with a poker, and put some logs on, close the door. Hopefully you can see why there should be no possibility for smoke at this stage.

Maybe you're adding fuel too soon? If you can see logs in the firebox, and you can see flames on the logs, leave it alone. Wait for the logs to burn down to coals, then add the next round of fuel.

 

[rhodyrams11]

Hello All,
I purchased a HI400/CI2600 in December 2018. I had been struggling with a defective door gasket and excessively dirty glass. While my glass still gets dirty within a couple hours of burning, cat temps have increased to normal levels since having the door seal repaired. The glass is blackout dirty every morning but I have come to accept that the glass needs to be cleaned with a razor blade every day... but this isn't my main issue (though it may be related to the airflow issue I'm about to mention). My main question is: How sensitive is the airflow adjuster for all of you? I suspect I have too much draft because 80% of the range of the airflow lever appears to behave as if the air were fully open. Once the stove is hot (750-1000F+), I can only move the lever 1/4" at most from the fully closed position, otherwise the fire will be raging and pulling excessive flames into the cat. There is very little visual difference in fire intensity once the airflow is opened beyond 25%. I have to use three fingers (2 on the lever one on the stove) to make <1/16" adjustments to the airflow lever when setting the flame for overnight burns. 1/16" too little and I get flameout, 1/8" in the other direction and the fire is flaming strong. In general it seems that the air inlet blasts holes through the wood and leaves large chunks of unburned coal on the sides of the stove. In older posts there were talks about the addition of a modified restrictor plate, however, when I spoke with regency they didn't really even acknowledge that this might be needed on the never versions of the stove. Any thoughts or experiences here? I'm contemplating making my own inlet plate and reducing the size of the opening.

Details:
- Wood: Mixed hardwoods at the moment, moisture tested below 20%
- Logs loaded EW - 16-22"
- Brick Chimney on exterior wall of house
- 6" uninsulated flexible liner (no blockoff plate at the moment)

 

[JRFarmer]

the glass needs to be cleaned with a razor blade every day

Yikes. No need to use sharp objects. Use a damp paper towel and dip it in the ash, scrub the glass with the ash. This works especially well if you have a spray bottle and you wet the glass first. Requires very little effort to clean the black off. Search for it on YouTube, it's definitely the way to go.

I have the same problem with the draft control... 75% of the range is the same as fully open, and the last 25% requires superhuman dexterity to dial-in.

Maybe get yourself a length of pipe to fit over the control lever. The longer pipe will give you finer control than the short lever handle.

For me, I generally operate the draft control in two modes: fully open and fully closed. Open when starting the fire and for a short while after refueling. Closed every other time. Even with the draft control fully "closed", it still burns a hole through the wood immediately in front of the air intake. The temperature of the stove is generally controlled by how much fuel I load.

 

[Mbcik]

Hello All,
I purchased a HI400/CI2600 in December 2018. I had been struggling with a defective door gasket and excessively dirty glass. While my glass still gets dirty within a couple hours of burning, cat temps have increased to normal levels since having the door seal repaired. The glass is blackout dirty every morning but I have come to accept that the glass needs to be cleaned with a razor blade every day... but this isn't my main issue (though it may be related to the airflow issue I'm about to mention). My main question is: How sensitive is the airflow adjuster for all of you? I suspect I have too much draft because 80% of the range of the airflow lever appears to behave as if the air were fully open. Once the stove is hot (750-1000F+), I can only move the lever 1/4" at most from the fully closed position, otherwise the fire will be raging and pulling excessive flames into the cat. There is very little visual difference in fire intensity once the airflow is opened beyond 25%. I have to use three fingers (2 on the lever one on the stove) to make <1/16" adjustments to the airflow lever when setting the flame for overnight burns. 1/16" too little and I get flameout, 1/8" in the other direction and the fire is flaming strong. In general it seems that the air inlet blasts holes through the wood and leaves large chunks of unburned coal on the sides of the stove. In older posts there were talks about the addition of a modified restrictor plate, however, when I spoke with regency they didn't really even acknowledge that this might be needed on the never versions of the stove. Any thoughts or experiences here? I'm contemplating making my own inlet plate and reducing the size of the opening.

Details:
- Wood: Mixed hardwoods at the moment, moisture tested below 20%
- Logs loaded EW - 16-22"
- Brick Chimney on exterior wall of house
- 6" uninsulated flexible liner (no blockoff plate at the moment)

Wow, that sounds terrible. Definitely seems like a defect. My air inlet works as needed I believe. If wide open, the logs have a good amount of flame. Half closed and there’s much less flame. I usually run it at about 20-30% and that seems to let the fire run longer, almost always keeps flames down, and prevents the glass from getting completely black.

 

[Wolves1]

My insert is very responsive to the air control. The issue sounds like it would be wood not seasoned enough. You wrote that the wood is below 20%. Is that freshly split and tested?

 

[Wolves1]

Also how tall is your chimney.

 

[Mbcik]

Sorry to have two conversations going on at once in a thread, but I want to keep posting about my issue to see if I can figure things out.

Again, problem is getting smoke back into the house, regardless of the state of the fire or the wood. Of course if I burn wet wood, the problem is much worse. But even with dry wood (16% after split) there is always a few puffs of smoke into the house. I know the wood is dry because I measured it, it’s light-weight, well seasoned, and it burns fast. This smoking condition is also regardless if the wood stove is cold and starting a new fire, or still very warm with coals in the bed, or one or two logs burned far down and I want to reload for leaving the house. Also doesn’t matter if it’s 50 degrees outside, or 35 degrees outside.

I’ve tried just about everything to resolve the issue, to no avail; Opening windows and doors in the house. Making sure all bathroom/kitchen exhaust fans are off. Wood stove bypass open, air control on, fan off, open door slowly, etc.

The only thing I can think of is poor draft due to chimney design or configuration. The chimney has about 6 feet in the house, another 8 feet in the crawl space, and then 6-8 feet exterior brick above the roof. It’s weird because with good dry wood in the stove, and the door cracked, it gets roaring. So definitely have some draft. But once that door is fully opened, the smoke just doesn’t all get evacuated up the chimney.

Any other ideas out there?

 

[Wolves1]

Is the chimney straight or does it have any elbow pieces.

 

[Wolves1]

Also when it comes out of the house is there any other part of the house that is higher then the chimney top.

 

[Mbcik]

Here’s an example. I know that wood is loaded close to the door, but again smoke ALWAYS comes back into the house regardless of all other conditions (wood, outside temp, wood loading direction, fire condition, etc.)

 

[JRFarmer]

Here’s an example. I know that wood is loaded close to the door, but again smoke ALWAYS comes back into the house regardless of all other conditions (wood, outside temp, wood loading direction, fire condition, etc.)

Don't open the door? Seriously, that's not a lot of smoke coming out, and there's a ton of wood in there and I'd definitely expect that much smoke to come out (if not more). I don't think there's anything unusual in that video.

Let it burn down, don't ever open the door until it's burnt down to coals.

 

[Wolves1]

I can’t see the video. But if you have a fire in there with still wood burning you should not open the door. It’s also bad for the cat. Not sure why I can’t see the video, would like to see it.

 

[rhodyrams11]

For me, I generally operate the draft control in two modes: fully open and fully closed. Open when starting the fire and for a short while after refueling. Closed every other time. Even with the draft control fully "closed", it still burns a hole through the wood immediately in front of the air intake. The temperature of the stove is generally controlled by how much fuel I load.

Thanks for the input on the air flow situation. I too operate mainly in two modes... it just doesn't seem right. Im hoping the is a solution to make the air intake lever more useful.

As far as the glass cleaning, I have tried cleaning the glass with ashy newspaper and it takes easily 20x longer than the razor blade method. I use a new razor blade every time i clean the glass and i can get it from blackout to spotless in less than a minute. Also, the glass can be cleaned while hot/warm when using a razor blade (I burn 24/7 so this is a big perk). To me, the time savings is worth the risk of scratching.

 

[rhodyrams11]

Wolves,
I have measured 4 different logs from my stack and the highest moisture was 18% (split and measured in the middle). Probing my hand, I measured ~32%.

As far as the chimney, It is a straight shot (no hard bends), 6' flex pipe up 2-1/2 stories. Probably about 22 feet. The top of the chimney is just below the roof of the house.

 

[rhodyrams11]

I just noticed that the picture of the chimney I sent is outdated. that was before I had the pipe installed. The stone chimney cap was smashed out and replaced with a stainless cap. I don't think the cap is the issue though, it has a lot of surface area for venting and has fairly coarse holes that should allow plenty of venting. I have a picture of the cap on a different phone at my house and can get it if you think it is of any importance.

 

[JRFarmer]

I burn 24/7

How often do you remove ash from the firebox? That's not a diagnostic question for your draft control problem, I'm just wondering for myself.

I too would not scrub the glass when it's hot, so the razor makes sense to me.

 

[Wolves1]

You may need to extend the chimney about 2 to 3 feet more. This maybe part of the problem. I included a picture showing instructions why that can be a possibility.

 

[NorthernFireplaceFool]

Imperial Stove Glass and Masonry cleaner works great on my glass. My small firebox Regency produces a lot soot blow out on the glass from the secondaries. 2 sprays every other day with a couple paper towels to wipe it off when cleaning ashes. Bottle should last you a year or two.

 

[rhodyrams11]

Wolves. I was concerned about the chimney being a bit low and mentioned it prior to installation. The installer didnt think it was an issue. I occasionally get eddies of smoke near the top of my roof but the draft is always strong.... Perhaps too strong. With the door cracked, I get plenty of airflow; even when cold starting. Often, when i refuel after the fire is established, the draft is so strong that it makes cyclical throbbing roars and makes the stove intake whistle. Is the main benefit of extending the chimney above the roof to help increase draft or do you think there is something else to gain from it? I should also note that I do get slight back smoking if i open the door too quickly but this is infrequent and usually only during a cold start (slowly opening the door eliminates this).
Also, its pretty clear that you've been involved in the CI2600 thread since the beginning. Neither regency nor my stove supplier have acknowledged the existence of a draft reduction plate. Do you know if this modification was completely eliminated in the newer versions of the stove? My gut feeling is that something about my setup is creating too much draft and that the standard size of the stoves airflow control orifice is too large to regulate it.
As far as i know, my liner is not insulated at the damper. I don't recall the stove installers cramming any mineral wool in there. What are your thoughts on block off plates?

 

[rhodyrams11]

JRFarmer, to answer your question. I usually sift out roughly 3-5 cups of the fine ash every day or every other day. It kind of depends on how much I have allowed the coals to burn down. Often times there are too many large coal chunks to easily get at the white ash. Id say at least once a week I let it burn down enough to get most of the white ash out. I try to keep the recommended 2" of ash/embers on the bottom. I use a pasta scooper to sift the ashes into a stainless mixing bowl, I found a seller on amazon that had it for 3 bucks. Its held up really well so far. Amazon product ASIN B07G326GTL