amity coal stove

[frog2002]

that season is apon us and i was caught with my shorts down.
i've been burning wood for about 15 years and switched over to coal 2 years ago.
I lit my coal stove for the first time(bought used and has no tags on it)and when i went to shake her down tonight the shaker grates broke.
Not knowing brand of the stove i just decided to buy a new stove for the first time(this will be my 4th stove)
My question is, has any body heard of an amity cs-45 coal stove? are they good,bad? I can purchase one new at what i think is a very good price.
any input is great
thanks Tony

 

[BJ64]

Welcome to the forum Frog!

Does the stove maker have a web site? Pictures of the product would be helpful if all else fails.

On the other hand, do you think you old shaker grate can be wielded?

 

[frog2002]

As for the shakers being repaired i'd say its a lost cause. right now i'm using a tool i made up to slide the shakers back and forth until new stove comes. I guess it was time for me to buy a new stove.
nu-tech.com is the web site and maker of the stove. the stove is made in Rhode Island

 

[bhjoy711]

My husband and I recently purchased an Amity CS-45 coal stove on ebay from a guy in Peabody Mass (who knows nothing about coal stoves we found out). We have burned coal for several years in a Franco-Belge stove and love the coal heat.

We have been trying to do research on the "Amity" stove and finally made some headway today! This stove is sold as a Reading brand "Mahantongo CS-45" stove. If you go to the Reading Stove website you can even download the users manual if you didn't get one.

Ours did not come with the inner glass pieces (some "super view" huh?) so I've been trying to get information on ordering it as we like to be able to see the fire, how it's burning, if it needs shaking, etc.

We haven't fired up the stove yet so cannot give you any feedback about how it burns. I'll post another comment when we fire that baby up! :cheese:

 

[kenny g]

I also purchased an Amity coal stove from ebay- same seller and no glass panels either- additionally, the threaded hole to screw in the shaked hook was not tapped or drilled,whatever the correct term is...I am still waiting for the glass... I have tried to keep the stove fired with moderate success...it doesnt seem to burn hot...being new to coal stoves I am told by others to wait until the weather is cold and it will burn hot...Any advise would come in handy. Thanks,

 

[bhjoy711]

Kenny G:
Yes, our experience is that coal stoves prefer 'cold' weather to run well but will run when the temps are upper 50s' and even 60's. This is what we've experienced with the Franco Belge stove we have. We still have not started up the CS-45 stove yet, waiting for the glass panels to come in. Probably will wait until after thanksgiving to start it as we are going away for a few days and would need to let it go out anyway.

You may also notice that the stove will run hotter when it is windy outside. The draft from the chimney seems to make it burn hotter. May need to back it down if it gets too hot. I'm anxious to see how easy/difficult the cs-45 is to regulate in terms of heat output. Will let you know how we make out.

How does the ash pan work? The pan we received with ours doesn't appear to be the same one they diagram in the owners manual?

 

[kenny g]

hello firestarter and thanks for your reply- i have had lots of problems with this stove- the grate did not have a hole tapped into it to connect the shaked mechanism- i had to take it to work and have a machinist tap it for me- it now appears to have a casting problem as there is no opening to allow the bottom draft air to enter the stove-hence my problem with keeping a fire going- there are two side vents before the damper flap and if i leave them open the stove will run ,albeit very cool...hopefully, i just have a lemon and your unit is fine. additionally, the skirt is imposible to attach as there are screws located behind the holes needed to attach it. the ebay supplier has yet to mail my glass panels and i may have to ask for some resolution with him as in a return- i really like the way it looks and would like to keep this model but, it really is not functional at this point...i'll keep you posted...feel free to contact me via my email... [email protected] regards, ken

 

[kenny g]

hello b&h;joy, just wanted to pass on some information about the amity 45 coal stove- after many trips and phone calls to dealers...one service tech admitted that many of these stoves have a casting problem affecting the draft. it seems like the problem is blocked air passages along the sides where the air enters from the bottom- there is no corrective procedure- the stoves are destroyed- this is the problem i have- hopefully, you have one that was cast properly- i will have to return my stove to the seller in mass. and probably wait until next season to have a coal stove- most dealers have a 6 month wait after orders are placed due to high demand....please let me know if your stove is working well for you. kind regards, ken

 

[NU-TEC Stoves]

The Amity CS-45 coal stove and Amity AM-40 wood stove were produced for NU-TEC Incorporated in Yugoslavian in the 1990's.
Many of these units are still in use. Supply of replacement parts is presently limited.

Reading Stove Company licensed the CS-45 design in 2006. The grate was changed from a shaker grate to a rocker grate.
At the same time, the under air feed, a carry-over from the AM-40 woodstove secondary and tertiary air was eliminated.
Under normal conditions, the under feed was not necessary.
The other body components were basically the same as the original, but not necessarily interchangeable.
The Reading stove was marked under the name Mohantongo.

One the unique features of this model is that it is designed to burn the coal directly on the glass-ceramic.
One literally looks into the side of the coal bed. Besides a fantastic fire view, a great deal of IR heat is directed out the window.
To keep the glass-ceramic and cast-iron inner front from overheating, the combustion air is feed in over the upper window, air cooling the inner assembly, and then downward under the grate.

The original Amity CS-45 was designed for pea coal. The grate has approximately twice the open area as the Reading unit.

The Mohantongo grate system was designed by Reading for nut coal.

Issues of unsatisfactory heat output are generally the result of insufficient draft.

Either design should have a 6" chimney or liner that runs to the top of the house.

Both models should have chimneys yielding draft of at least .05 inches-water.

Irregular coal, lots of bits and chips, can also starve the combustion air flow.

If all the above have been addressed, a draft inducer such as the one produced by Tjernlund can salvage the installation.

The original Amity CS-45 may be put back into production in 2009. This may help with spare parts for those that have been using their stoves for many years.

Unfortunately, NU-TEC's archived supply of original stove bodies and spare parts were stolen from a remote warehouse. Many of these stove bodies listed as new stoves have shown up on eBay and Craig's List. Most of these stoves have not run through the entire production process. They may be missing parts and generally do not have serial numbers and safety labels. At least until next year, consumers that purchased these stoves will not be able to get parts to complete their stoves.

 

[kenny g]

After numerous phone calls with the kind and helpful people at NuTech and also the Ebay seller- the problem as been solved- A key part was missing from inside the stove- a metal plate was missing from behind the air intake below the grate- once it was in place, the coal burned great and produced lots of heat...


update- after using the stove for weeks, it does work well and produces lots of heat- the shaker system really is not good- you must knife it out everytime and it does need to be done often....i have not be able to get more than 8 hrs burn, unattended...and then the fire is very low and needs care to get it fired again...any suggestions... works well for me on weekends when i can take care of it every 4 hrs or so....and it heats the house to about 62 when the outside temp is 25 or higher....