Concerning Exotic French Stoves

[The Gravy Boater]

I have a Petit Godin. It's a tall cylyndrical stove. You set the fire via a door at the bottom, then feed it via a lid at the top that also features a hot plate.

 

There are a few issues...

 

The main chimney can be cleaned with a regular brush but there is a secondary flu between the top and the bottom of the tall cylindrical burning chamber... maybe two inches in diameter with (for reasons I cannot fathom) a bar across it that stops you stuffing a decent brush down it. I'm probably going to get a cable brush... that is, a brush with cables attached either side so you can floss it. Any other ideas or useful products you can recommend?

 

The door at the bottom for setting the fire has an ornate panel with lots of little windows and for this reason, I think, they have not gone with glass... rather sheet mica or "isinglass" as it is sometimes called... it's some kind of mineral laminate that looks and feels like plastic... which is a bit alarming, although apparently it can take temperatures twice as high as the stove can kick out.  When I cleaned the mica (with non-detergent soap as specified) a layer of laminate came off one of the small windows, so I think I maybe need to replace the sheet . Unfortunately the bolts sealing the whole assembly are properly seized up.  The mica is not expensive, but it looks like you have to order it at a particular size and cannot cut it yourself.  Any tips on unlocking this seized up assembly?

Edited August 8, 2020 by The Gravy Boater
typos

[The Gravy Boater]

Actually this might be in the wrong place... maybe boat building and maintenance.  Do what thou wilt.

[Bod]

1st try Plus Gas penetrating fluid. (WD40 will not do!)

2nd split the nuts off with a Nut Splitter.

Use properly fitting spanners.

 

Bod.

[The Gravy Boater]

11 minutes ago, Bod said:

1st try Plus Gas penetrating fluid. (WD40 will not do!)

2nd split the nuts off with a Nut Splitter.

Use properly fitting spanners.

 

Bod.

Googling...

[canals are us?]

When I bought mica, for the below stove I just cut it to size with scissors and drilled a hole through the centre for the bolt hole in the middle. An old stove my Dad used to own. An old Atayco D. I still have it. Bought it off him for £30 in 1998! Re- fire bricked it, new mica and new ashpan made. It was cream originally but enamel damaged, so painted it black! Now would re paint it cream with black top as original. 

 

James.

Edited August 8, 2020 by canals are us?

[Athy]

As the Petit Godin is a current model, why not seek their advice? Alternatively, ask Lawton who seem to be their official U.K. agents.

[Grassman]

We used to have one. A marvellous stove, great heat output and with so much capacity that once loaded up, a 'fill' would last for nearly 24 hours. The downside was that being a top loader, every time you lifted the lid to fill it the smoke used to pour out.

 

We had the same problems as the OP with cleaning the secondary flue. I can't fathom out why it was so narrow and the best way I found to clean it was using a long handled spoon and scraping or pushing the ash/soot into the stove or out from the opening. A long winded job and it usually resulted in sore knuckles afterwards.

 

Last year the firebrick lining cracked all the way round and dropped onto the grate. The cost of rectifying it was too much so I got rid of it.

[The Gravy Boater]

38 minutes ago, Grassman said:

We used to have one. A marvellous stove, great heat output and with so much capacity that once loaded up, a 'fill' would last for nearly 24 hours. The downside was that being a top loader, every time you lifted the lid to fill it the smoke used to pour out.

 

We had the same problems as the OP with cleaning the secondary flue. I can't fathom out why it was so narrow and the best way I found to clean it was using a long handled spoon and scraping or pushing the ash/soot into the stove or out from the opening. A long winded job and it usually resulted in sore knuckles afterwards.

 

Last year the firebrick lining cracked all the way round and dropped onto the grate. The cost of rectifying it was too much so I got rid of it.

Interesting!  I will clearly have to be careful when loading it up.  Did you ever have to replace the sheet mica?

[Stilllearning]

Does it look a lot like this, only less rusty?

 

 

[Grassman]

No Gravy Boater, but I never bothered to clean it very often because I couldn't see the point being as the view of the fire was obscured so much by the ornate patterned ironwork covering it. I can't fault the performance of the stove but if you want a nice cosy view of a glowing fire then this isn't the stove to give you that,

 

The boat had the Godin when we bought it and I was pleased that it did, because despite the problems cleaning the flue and the billowing smoke emitting when filling it, it was a smashing stove,   but when it came to replacing it I didn't think it was worth paying over double the price of most stoves for another one.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Grassman

[Stilllearning]

4 minutes ago, Grassman said:

No Gravy Boater, but I never bothered to clean it very often because I couldn't see the point being as the view of the fire was obscured so much by the ornate patterned ironwork covering it. I can't fault the performance of the stove but if you want a nice cosy view of a glowing fire then this isn't the stove to give you that,

 

The boat had the Godin when we bought it and I was pleased that it did, because despite the problems cleaning the flue and the billowing smoke emitting when filling it, it was a smashing stove,   but when it came to replacing it I didn't think it was worth paying over double the price of most stoves for another one.

They’re only about €150 second hand in decent nick.

https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/offer/buy/268463731/poele-a-bois-le-petit-godin-3721a-ancien-120.html

[The Gravy Boater]

8 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

Does it look a lot like this, only less rusty?

 

 

Very similar (sans rust) although it looks like that one has a different or replacement front door.

3 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

They’re only about €150 second hand in decent nick.

https://fr.shopping.rakuten.com/offer/buy/268463731/poele-a-bois-le-petit-godin-3721a-ancien-120.html

They are probably relatively cheap to source from France, even with the shipping.

[Stilllearning]

4 minutes ago, The Gravy Boater said:

Very similar (sans rust) although it looks like that one has a different or replacement front door.

There are different doors, parts are available, mica is a piece of p to cut to shape. Easier to get a replacement door than to ease the rusted and cooked on nuts probably.

[The Gravy Boater]

Mine is cosmetically identical to this one...

 

 

[Stilllearning]

3 minutes ago, The Gravy Boater said:

Mine is cosmetically identical to this one...

 

 

T

 

4 minutes ago, The Gravy Boater said:

Mine is cosmetically identical to this one...

 

 

Parts list in pdf

[The Gravy Boater]

12 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

Easier to get a replacement door than to ease the rusted and cooked on nuts probably.

I think you may be right, but I'll see what the dealer says.  The mica may still be fine for a bit, doesn't have any holes in it, just a small piece of the laminate flaked off one of the little windows while I was cleaning it.

Edited August 15, 2020 by The Gravy Boater

[Stilllearning]

3 minutes ago, The Gravy Boater said:

I think you may be right, but I'll see what the dealer says.  The mica may still be fine for a bit, doesn't have any holes in it, just a small piece of the laminate flaked off one of the little windows while I was cleaning it.

Replacements available here

https://www.pieces-de-poele.com/verre-de-poeles-et-foyers-sur-mesure,fr,3,225.cfm

[The Gravy Boater]

2 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

Replacements available here

https://www.pieces-de-poele.com/verre-de-poeles-et-foyers-sur-mesure,fr,3,225.cfm

My schoolboy French is rustier than that earlier pic of a stove... but thanks

[Stilllearning]

Just now, The Gravy Boater said:

My schoolboy French is rustier than that earlier pic of a stove... but thanks

I’m going to our local diy store on Monday and could ask them there if they have any parts you might need.

[Grassman]

Mine was identical to The Gravy Boater's. My wife has reminded me that for the last couple of years there was a small crack in the mica. It didn't affect the performance and there were no issues with carbon monoxide leaks.

 

When the firebrick material lining disintegrated the only option was a complete new stove (I checked with Lawtons about this). I know I could have sought a 2nd hand stove as a replacement as per Stillearning's suggestion, but we decided to abandon having a stove altogether as it's removal created a lot more room, rendered the inside of the boat cleaner, and saved me having to hump bags of coal around. 

[The Gravy Boater]

On 16/08/2020 at 08:41, Grassman said:

Mine was identical to The Gravy Boater's. My wife has reminded me that for the last couple of years there was a small crack in the mica. It didn't affect the performance and there were no issues with carbon monoxide leaks.

 

When the firebrick material lining disintegrated the only option was a complete new stove (I checked with Lawtons about this). I know I could have sought a 2nd hand stove as a replacement as per Stillearning's suggestion, but we decided to abandon having a stove altogether as it's removal created a lot more room, rendered the inside of the boat cleaner, and saved me having to hump bags of coal around. 

Given the current cold snap I have ordered a bunch of brush options to try and tackle the secondary flu and will have a go at the chimney tomorrow.  The mica is still intact even if a bit has flaked off so I'm going to try a few burns, starting small.

 

Replacing the door is clearly the way to go if there are any problems in future.  I'll let you all know how it goes.

Edited August 28, 2020 by The Gravy Boater
typo

[sultan derocco]

Mica is wonerful stuff. It is a naturally occuring mineral (muscovite) Used to be used in all sorts of electrical equipment as an insulator (heat and electricity in condensers etc .It was also much used by the military in munitions , gas masks etc.  It occurs as hexagonal crystals made of a stack of sheets in igneous and metamorphic rock. Theoretically the crystals ca be split intop individual sheets only one atom thick though you would need very steady hands and sharp fingernails to do this. If you can get some it can easil be cut to size using ordinary scissors.

In a stove where the edges are not sealed, air can pentrate between the layers causing some opacity.  Of course the stuff in your stove may not be proper mica but some sort of substitute in which case all bets are off. So I would not worry about the odd layer flaking off unless there are holes.

[The Gravy Boater]

12 minutes ago, sultan derocco said:

Mica is wonerful stuff. It is a naturally occuring mineral (muscovite) Used to be used in all sorts of electrical equipment as an insulator (heat and electricity in condensers etc .It was also much used by the military in munitions , gas masks etc.  It occurs as hexagonal crystals made of a stack of sheets in igneous and metamorphic rock. Theoretically the crystals ca be split intop individual sheets only one atom thick though you would need very steady hands and sharp fingernails to do this. If you can get some it can easil be cut to size using ordinary scissors.

In a stove where the edges are not sealed, air can pentrate between the layers causing some opacity.  Of course the stuff in your stove may not be proper mica but some sort of substitute in which case all bets are off. So I would not worry about the odd layer flaking off unless there are holes.

Informative and reassuring.  Nice one.

[Tracy D'arth]

I know a firm that makes firebricks in Derbyshire near the Cheshire border.

 

We had mica in the stoves on our caravans many years ago, so caravan shops may still sell it in sheets.

The kids used to poke it out.

When we got sick of replacing it we used cut up tin cans instead.

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I know a firm that makes firebricks in Derbyshire near the Cheshire border.

 

We had mica in the stoves on our caravans many years ago, so caravan shops may still sell it in sheets.

The kids used to poke it out.

When we got sick of replacing it we used cut up tin cans instead.

We're back to Oklahoma... "Isinglass windows that would roll right down..."

 

 

Edited August 29, 2020 by WotEver
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