Petite Godin Custom Mod (for More BTU)

Hi everybody,

I am always surprised how many Godin's are still in service. They are a simple design that, if not abused, last a long time. My stove was installed in the early '70's around the time of the first Arab oil embargo.

My stack temp runs, according to the condor flue probe, at about 500 degrees during a steady state run. There are two caveats on this reading:

1. It is a condor flue probe and I would not vouch for its accuracy. The prior flue thermometer read about 20% lower than this one. I use it for relative readings to gauge how the fire is burning.

2. The probe is located above the stove and just below a MPD. I usually have the MPD at about a 45 degree angle for steady state burns. This holds a lot of heat in the stove and in that first foot of pipe. The pipe above the MPD is much cooler.

Since I have about 10 feet of 5" SS pipe before the thimble a lot of the heat in the pipe is reclaimed.

I am not familiar with the model 3270 and since it is no longer in production there is no information on the Godin site (http://www.godin.fr). In both the Godin's I have had the shaker handle went through the cast iron door frame, then through the cylinder skin and fire brick. Finally through the shaker grate. On the newer stove, the 3731, the prior owner must have leaned very heavily on the shaker handle when he used it. The circular hole was radically elongated. What I did was loosen the door frame. Then I wrapped some gasket rope around the shaker handle shaft between the door frame and the cylinder skin. Since only the edge of the door frame was flush to the skin there was a gap between the frame and the skin around the shaft. Once I packed the gasket rope into that gap I tightened the door frame again. The frame held the gasket material in place.

On the older stove the hole around the shaker handle is still round. While I can see light through it, it does not admit enough air to affect the burn. As mentioned earlier, if I close the primary air control the fire quickly goes out.

Greetings.

Concerning the stack vs stove temperature. I have a stack thermometer and a stove thermometer, so I can say for sure the temperature differential is around 20F. It isn't that surprising when you consider the Godin design. The heat just goes up and out. It seems that non-Godin-ites have a stack to stove differential of almost 200F. Moral of the story is Godin's are inefficient. But, they are very easy to burn. I was easily burning recently when the temperature outside was 70F. So, what to do about the efficiency thing...

KaptJaq: I plugged the leak around the shaker hole with gasket rope as you suggested. My stove doesn't have fire brick below the shaker grate so the shaker rod goes through the door frame and the cylinder skin to the shaker. Thanks again.

KaptJaq wrote: Since I have about 10 feet of 5" SS pipe before the thimble a lot of the heat in the pipe is reclaimed.

An old wood stove trick. Sounds like it is very helpful with the Godin.

rberg:

If I was a bachelor, or wanted to be a bachelor, I could put the coal stove in the middle of the dinning room and have a longer run of pipe...

Clearly KaptJaq is a Godin Master. Secretly, as I shovel out my klinkers, I wonder just how fine his coal ashes are.

ringer19547 wrote:If I was a bachelor, or wanted to be a bachelor, I could put the coal stove in the middle of the dinning room and have a longer run of pipe...

It is called killing two birds with one stone.
But I read a book a few years ago titled "The Millionaire Next Door" about folks who had done well financially in the USA. One of the defining characteristics was long-term marriages, because these folks had not gone through the financial and emotional and other life disruptions associated with divorce. A month into the 42nd year myself, though the millionaire part doesn't seem to be working out.