I looked at some pics of a no.3 and I cannot get a good look at the material in question. If it is in fact friable (easily pulled apart, frays easily, etc) the best course of action to even remove it is a wet removal. Completely soak the material with water, then remove it. Wetting prevents the fibers from becoming airborn. Use PPE as you see fit.
Hi, Why not advertise the No.3 on ebay? You can then get rid of them both at the same time. Best Regards, Kerophile.
Because I'd really rather like to keep it, and being in NI, I'd be looking at a courier to shift it beyond these shores... Probably a half pallet load, so £70-ish? Don't see it shifting at that. Yes & Yes.
Unbolt the heatshield (I think it's two screws along the lower edge) and give it a good coating of engine lacquer. I've done it on one of my No.2s. I don't usually do it unless it goes furry/brittle, it doesn't really bother me as I don't disturb it in use. Once lacquered you can trim it back away from the hole whilst keeping it wetted with water, no hassle. (p.s. I'm not blasé about it, just experienced in dealing with it in small/medium quantities, it's nothing to be alarmed about, just give it due respect ). Alec.
Thanks, I've seen the stuff on 2's before. It's more solid, a bit like the mats we had for bunsens at school. This stuff seems flexible, which had me worried it might be blue, which would concern me. I'm not panicy about it, (I was using it as a footstool most of the day). I'll follow your advice.
Like Alec says, leave the asbestos there (it's there for a reason). If you don't mess with it it's not an issue.
Asbestosys is a professional illness affecting people that work constantly, for years in an asbestos fiber rich atmosphere. If you breath asbestos fibers once or ten time in your life, it is quite unlikely you get Mesotelioma Pleuris from such an occasional exposition. The banning of asbestos (and the following asbestophobia) war rightly motivated by the fact that asbestos is almost perfect as high temp insulation, a performance required in a lot of industries, it makes a splendid mix with cement for many manufacture and roofs, and it is dirty cheap, so, if not definitely banned there would always be some criminal industrial using it, and from ten to 15% or his workers, in 10 years, was going to die of mesotelioma. The danger was for people continuously exposed to asbestos dist, not for the final user of asbestos items.
The danger is in the very very fine dust particles, almost invisible to the eye. Many house wives, married to people working in factories working with asbestos died because their husbands carried fine asbestos dust home in their clothes (this is not "I heard this from so and so", this is told by colleagues, first hand experience, the factory I work used asbestos from 1924 till 1998.) In my area, until very recently old people died of asbestosis because in the 1930s there was a local factory working with asbestos. These people were young children in the 1930's, to young to work. The illness was caused by dust "escaping" from the factory. Today, many textile workers in Turkey die from very fine silicium oxide (aka fine sand dust) because they have to sandblast jeans to make them look "worn" (today's stupid fashion hype). If you'd pick up a spoonful of fine sand, and slowly pour it out in the wind, it is not the dust you see falling to the ground, it is the ultra fine dust that floats in the wind that kills people. To cut this story short, as long as you leave it alone, asbestos is harmless. The rest is a lottery, some people work with it all their lives, and don't get ill. On the other hand, a single exposure can kill you if you have a bad "lottery ticket" Best regards, Wim
What if you remove it after having thoroughly soaked it with water and then put glass fibre cloth in its place?
Leave it alone. If you're not breaking it up and causing it to be airborne it's not going to be a problem. It is there for a reason, to provide some insulation for the fuel tank. For normal maintenance on the stove there is no reason to disturb it. If you do have to disassemble that portion of the stove for some reason, wet the asbestos, do what you have to do and put it back. The whole asbestos flap is one of the greatest idiocies of modern times. Millions of dollars were needlessly wasted on removing asbestos that presented absolutely no threat and released more asbestos into the air which would have been perfectly harmless if left in place. It is yet another example of the "chicken little" mind set so common today. The mindless media declares something to be so and the great majority assume it must be so. Critical thinking as gone completely awol. I feel better now.
