Mystery Stove

Hello everyone,

My sister has what I believe to be a coal burner, due to the dial vents in the bottom the stove, that needs restoring. It has Pat. date of Nov.16, '97 on the top, just below that it has a the number 216. On the bottom it says Black & Germer, Erie, PA. I can find many references to the company the made the stove, but no actual pictures of one to compare it to. I turn to your knowledge for help in Identifying the stove, so we know what it should look like if she chooses to restore it. I would post a pic, but right now it is disassembled and ready to be restored. If that is not a problem let me know and I will post a pic.

Thanks,
Mike

It's probably a Germer, Radiant Home, Oak. There were two models of this stove. The direct draft oak stove and the hot blast model. The hotblast is one of the best stoves made for burning Bituminous Coal. Germer stoves are excellent stoves in every regard, from quality of manufacture to performance.

Here is a picture of a Germer Radiant Home 216

Wow
Mike, First of all, welcome to NEPA Crossroads. if your sister has the stove that Will posted the pic of, that would be a real prize. I hope she, or you, follow thru and do a full restoration on it. Keep us posted please.

You can find a lot of restoration information and pictures right here. Several members have done beautiful restorations on their antique stoves. Someone here can probably answer any questions you or your sister may have about the stove or restoration process.

Thanks for the warm welcome and the pic, I am curious as to where you found it. I searched for close to six hours and could not find one. Then again, I was not to sure what I was looking for either. That is a gorgeous stove, the only difference that I can see is the cylinder looks different than what my sister has, her's has a more smooth look to it. I will post a pic of it by this weekend. Could that be due to needing restoration?

Even though your stove has a few different details doesn't mean its not the same stove. These stoves were in production for many years. Every few years or even as often as every year some stove companies changed details of the stove. The finial, nickel trim or door design may be slightly different, due to the year the stove was made.

Hello Nightspear.
Where in Michgan are you located? I'm just south of Flint, in NW Oakland county.

If you are close, I'd be glad to have a look at the parts and pieces of the stove you are getting from your sister. The biggest stumbling block will be missing pieces. Possible broken 'ears' for the interlocking of the cast pieces, and possible rusted-through cylinder of the stove body.

The main things that wear are the shaker grate system, the hinge pins on the doors, and any air dampers in the flue/ducts. Mica windows in the doors usually should be replaced, but may be in OK shape.

Some of these stoves are quite intricate, and some are quite simple. If you have an intricate shaker mechanism, you have to make sure all the gears, pivots, bearing racks, and grates are there.

I'd try to place all the pieces together, doing a 'dry assembly' of the stove, to assure that ALL the pieces are there. These stoves can be a real puzzle if you were not the person taking it apart.

You can get parts cast new, but if a piece is missing, you have to figure out what the piece looks like, make a working
pattern to make a mold from, then the part can be cast. I know where parts can be cast.

Take care, Greg L

I know it has been a while since my last post, but here are the pics of the mystery stove.

I don't know anything about the stove, but it sure looks like it would be a beauty if restored.

Hello again Nightspear.

Where in Michigan are you located??

The sheet steel cylinder of the stove looks like it needs replacement.

The grate is an interesting design,, I'm thinking it is meant for burning wood, there aren't many spaces for coal ash to shake through the grate.
Many of the coal stoves had a wood grate available for those people who planned on burning wood,

The grate for coal looked more like this:


You can see that there are a lot more openings for the coal ash to fall through. Wood didn't need air from below, and would burn well with just over the top combustion air..

Let me know where in Michigan you are, I'll be glad to help if you are close.

Greg L

You have a Germer Radiant Home, Hotblast model. If you look at the firepot design you can see air tubes cast into the pot with a corresponding slot on the inside of the fire pot. This design is for the purpose of infusing hot secondary air into a bituminous coal fire. This greatly increases the combustion efficiency when using that fuel. If Anthracite is used then you would close the draft control that regulates the secondary air.
The grate pictured there is a, "lignite grate." It is for burning various types of sub bituminous coal and lignite. These fuels need most of the air delivered over the fire, very similar to a wood fire.