I have a 1983 Pasquini Livietta which I assume has an asbestos insulated boiler. Undisturbed, is it safe to leave this way, or would it be better to attempt removal/replacement? The few references I've found to this issue were people who were rebuilding machines. They removed the asbestos with the boiler completely immersed underwater, which seems sensible.

Asbestos was banned in 84 so it probably is. Doing it under water makes sense, the dust is what kills you. Otherwise you have to have a hazmat company remove and dispose of it. That would cost more than a half dozen new machines.

Thanks Dave. I guess I'll leave it for now and wait until there's another reason to open the machine before attempting the remove the insulation.

To remove or not to remove, that is the question...if said asbestos is tight, and stained not, with no failure of adhesion (tapping with rapping stick yields not a sickly hollow sound), if flakes are notable in their blessed absence and surface seems as a smoothe skin like the crust of peasant bread, then let it be, as the pain beset upon the workman in the needed process of boiler removal from the nesting frame of Pasquini, alas may be more the bother than the gain.

But flakes or stains or hollow rappings, adhesion failed, or balding patches (most often on the aging dome) then be cautious as the errant fibre, once disturbed may penetrate the orb or lung of master maid or passing stranger and thus disturb the peacefulness of the manor home. A cause for worry concern and hurry to rid the kitchen nest of this foul and onerous pest.

So damp or wet or under water, stripped with knife of putty, reveals the gleaming brass....the throbbing pulsing heart of this noble beast, reveals the seams of manufacture, laid bare now the solder, the dark and woeful patches, much like a chicken plucked. The foul asbestos now lays vanquished, is ragged and bagged all tightly knotted or buried in some deep dark hole away, so far away, from fragile humanity.

the end

Haha, thank you Doug for such an eloquent, entertaining, and educational response.

Alas, I fear even peering into the beast's dark lair while it slumbers. Many are the trials and tribulations that await me if I attempt to disturb the noxious beast and release it from its ancient lair of wiring and snakelike boobytraps which all seemed designed to thwart my untutored hand. Were I a man of more experience, or even modest bravery, instead of the weak and cowardly man who trembles at the very thought of o-rings, gaskets, and hex-nuts, I might attempt such an epic task. Instead I ponder and prevaricate and ignore my better judgment. I imagine the asbestos beast reborn as a gleaming phoenix from the crumbled remains of its former evil coat. My heart thrills to such an image of rebirth and hope, but then a familiar chill of fear silences the rejoicing and I put away my tools and weapons for another day.

orphanespresso wrote:To remove or not to remove, that is the question... The foul asbestos now lays vanquished, is ragged and bagged all tightly knotted or buried in some deep dark hole away , so far away, from fragile humanity.

the end

This is tighter writing than we had in the Netflix movie from last evening. I hope Hollywood doesn't discover you. The boards need you more.

Delightful.

B|Java

Asbestos hysteria is overblown.

"The scientists agree that airborne asbestos can be deadly. It is a proven cause of mesothelioma, an incurable cancer of the membranes surrounding internal organs. It also causes asbestosis, a choking stiffening of the lungs, and it has been linked to lung cancer. Yet nearly all cases of asbestos- related disease have been confined to people who mined the mineral or those who worked with it in manufacturing or installation jobs. As for the general public, says Mossman, the level of exposure even in buildings with flaking asbestos is no more than 1% of the level deemed safe for workers." emphasis added

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic...z1NlNEkgC6

cafeIKE, as often the fact based voice of reason, but there are other considerations such as, having gotten wet or stained, the material can emit a foul smell...foul to me at least, a sort of mixture of airless house and stale perfume. It can also hide pinholes in the boiler.

Thanks for the information! I feel a bit relieved... but I still get a bit freaked out thinking about flaky asbestos.

I'm not an asbestos mitigation expert, but I have been around jobs before.... and I stayed in a Holiday Inn. As said above asbestos is only dangerous if the fibers are breathed in. That being said they are extremely dangerous. When they do mitigation work they are obviously fully suited, are in a negative pressure environment and with external O2. Everything is sheeted off w/ plastic with a shower exit. During the scraping process they spray a water/glue mix to help fibers get weighted down and out of the air.

Maybe I am a bit overcautious but if I were doing a removal from the boiler I would use a tyvec suit, do it underwater, outside, with a respirator. When done tape a lid on the bucket, bag it, have someone hose you off, suit in a bag, off to the shower and forget about it. mesothelioma/asbestosis is nasty stuff.