Trying to Identify an Old Godin, Perhaps an Antique Le-Petit

Hi, I was given an old run down godin, likely le petit.
However, I cannot work out the model or the age for sure. I am posting pictures. The writing on the inner side of the top cover is 2122, and I think 'bois' as well.

Can anyone help with identifying model and year?
(I'll post later pictures of the broken part for advice about fixing).

Thanks so much,

Bois is the french word for wood. The 2122s that I have seen were manufactured up to the late fifties for the french/European market.

On the older Godin's there is usually a small stainless tag on outside bottom back of the cylinder just above the bottom cast iron ring. That will give the model number as manufactured. On my stove is the model 3121(wood)/3721(coal). It was setup for coal and the plate on the back shows:

No. 3721 FAB 0C
POELE A BOIS BRULE TOUT

What type of damage does it have?

Both "Bois" and "Wood" are four letter words.

The inscription seems to indicate it is a wood burning stove and not dual purpose.

"Stove for burning all wood" is my semi-educated translation.

When I first acquired my Godin 3721 I thought it was a wood stove since many of the parts that are interchangeable with the 3121 were marked "bois". On a trip to France I went to a stove store to see if I could get a replacement part. I showed him the info on the plate and he told me I had a "trash burner". He explained that "POELE A BOIS" indicated it was a wood stove but "BRULE TOUT " means it could burn everything. He then pulled his Godin manual and showed me the "charbon" (coal) indication for the 3721 stove. Nice thing about the 3120, 3720, 3121, & 3721 stoves are that they are still manufactured in France so manuals (in french) and parts are readily available there.

A couple of things bother me about the pictures of the 2122 of this thread. One is that the 2122 is followed by "BIS" in one picture. That usually means encore or again. It might be a reproduction?

The Godin shield above the ash door does not line up with the top of the ash door, not typical of Godin workmanship.

In one picture the sides of the cylinder appear warped. Maybe it was over-fired at some point. (which might explain the shield mis-alignment)

Possibly it is a wood stove that someone over-fired with coal?

Thanks for all the good information.

The person who gave the stove to me bought it in an antique shop, so we don't know the origins of the heater. I'd doubt it that someone took the trouble of shipping an imitation all the way to Australia though.

I am including more pictures of the stove from the back. Its got more numbers and letters, though not full words as far as I can see.
There is significant damage to the cilinder that someone tried to fix using some kind of cement material. Its now falling off and I'll have to get rid of all of it before I can do anything or even see the extent of the damage. There is also a broken piece at the back and quite a lot of rust. I don't know enough about stove to even begin to assess how difficult it will be to restore it, especially from Australia with no spare parts in hand.
Would appreciate some feedback on this too, as well as continued search for the origins of the heater.

Thanks so much,

Hi, one thing you can try is to fax directly to Godin Co. and ask for the infos you want. They have "Le musée J.B. Godin" so certainly someone there can answer you.
Their fax.no. is (33) 03 23 60 41 05. I didn't see any email adress on the Godin catalog I have. Brought it back from a visit to my youngest daughter when she was living in Lille. Good luck
nortcan

KaptJaq wrote:When I first acquired my Godin 3721 I thought it was a wood stove since many of the parts that are interchangeable with the 3121 were marked "bois". On a trip to France I went to a stove store to see if I could get a replacement part. I showed him the info on the plate and he told me I had a "trash burner". He explained that "POELE A BOIS" indicated it was a wood stove but "BRULE TOUT " means it could burn everything. He then pulled his Godin manual and showed me the "charbon" (coal) indication for the 3721 stove. Nice thing about the 3120, 3720, 3121, & 3721 stoves are that they are still manufactured in France so manuals (in french) and parts are readily available there.

A couple of things bother me about the pictures of the 2122 of this thread. One is that the 2122 is followed by "BIS" in one picture. That usually means encore or again. It might be a reproduction?

The Godin shield above the ash door does not line up with the top of the ash door, not typical of Godin workmanship.

In one picture the sides of the cylinder appear warped. Maybe it was over-fired at some point. (which might explain the shield mis-alignment)

Possibly it is a wood stove that someone over-fired with coal?

Makes sense to me now. I was expecting to see "charbon" or another word for coal. I think "poele" might also refer to a grate.

Godin usually writes :"poele bois/charbon" to indicate the stove is a multi fuel stove. Bois = wood, charbon = coal,anthracite, claies = grates.
Bonne jourmée a tous.

P/S If you want ,I can fax Godin to ask them for the questions you want answers. No problem for me

Thanks so much again everyone,

If no one has an email or website of godin I'd very much appreciate the generous fax offer since I don't have a fax at home.
Does anyone have ideas about the extent of damage and possibility to fix the cilinder, or do I need to first strip off the cement?

thanks

lilon wrote:Thanks so much again everyone,

If no one has an email or website of godin I'd very much appreciate the generous fax offer since I don't have a fax at home.
Does anyone have ideas about the extent of damage and possibility to fix the cilinder, or do I need to first strip off the cement?

thanks

I will send the fax to Godin in a few minutes and come back to you as soon as I get the answer.
The stove looks in a very bad shape and maybe, if I were you I would wait till having answer from Le Muse Godin
nortcan

Looking at the last set of pictures it looks more like weather damage than over heating. In the view looking down from the top the stove bricks appear to be in great shape, as well as the lintel. Over heating usually pits the bricks and warps the lintel before it warps the outer cylinder. I also see the outlet extension in the bottom of the cylinder. Any sign of the ash tray that hooks onto the front under the door? When I first cleaned my stove it was stored inside where the ash pan should have been.

Most of the damage looks like weather related rust and rough handling. I have seen the sheet metal skin replaced but the crack in the outlet manifold is going to be tough.

The fact that the entire stove was painted gray may indicate that somebody found it outside or exposed to the weather then cleaned it up as a decorative piece. Since it still has some ash in it it may have been used as a yard heater...

I would wait to see if Godin has replacements for the cracked parts before I put too much effort into the rest of the stove. If it does get repaired he first couple of fires should probably be outside to burn off some of the gray paint. As old as the stove is that paint may contain lead and I wouldn't want the fumes in the house.

Godin's web site (French only) - http://www.godin.fr/

Hi,

Wondering if the person who fax godin received any answer, or if anyone else could tell me how old this heater is? even approximately (30 years? 60? 90?).

Alternatively, does anyone know of other forums which specialise in godin?

Thanks

Hello,

I'm respectfully curious, why are you interested whether this stove is 30, 60, 90 years old? How does the stove's age impact your use, enjoyment, plans for it?
I'm not an expert but it is a Petit Godin. They've built them for more than 100 years and thousands of them are in service at this time. Most owners come to respect this stove's capabilities.
Parts are available but not easily.

More curiosity, are you planning to restore the stove and use it? Re-sell it?
If planning to use it be careful to operate it within limits, they can be easily over-fired. Chimney size is critical to operation success.
If planning to restore it for resale, keep in mind these are not high-end expensive used stoves - they don't bring big money.

There are some Godin postings at Hearth.com

Like you I bet, I like the unique look of these stoves. Please continue to update this forum as you proceed on your Godin adventure.

All the best.

- Arnold Z.

I did try to send a fax to Godin France and re-try a few times but the fax never enters there. It was like a phone number and a person was answering a message. Check again the phone number, the fax number, always made the special number to exit Canada Phone services... nothing to do. I found an email ad. it and doesn't look to work either. I was still waiting answer from that email before coming back here. Hard to reach...
Bryant Stove has a Petit Godin for sale and it looks good, not very expensive. Just go to their web site to: coal stoves.
nortcan