Olympia Cremina 67, the last year the boiler had asbestos?

[Fullsack]

It was my understanding, the last year the Cremina had asbestos around the boiler was in the 70's, but I just saw an '81 with an asbestos boiler insulation. Could this machine be a melange of more than one machine?

[timo888]

I don't know when Olympia stopped using asbestos to insulate the boilers on the Cremina, but the asbestos litigation didn't get into full swing here in the States until the 1980s, so I would not be surprised to learn that asbestos was still being used on Creminas dating from that period.

I am not advising removal of the asbestos, but if one were going to do it, the asbestos on the boiler should be misted gently with a spray bottle until it is very wet and then the boiler should be gingerly removed and thoroughly soaked in a bucket of water overnight. Then you can scrape the asbestos off. Keep the asbestos very wet, and bag it tightly in plastic afterwards. A one-time exposure might pose a negligible health risk (though that is open to debate since there are incidents on record of single significant exposures causing asbestos-related lung disease), but if the fibers should become airborne in your home, the contamination could reach levels that exceed EPA domestic guidelines, and this could require expensive remediation before you would be able to sell your home, whatever the health risks might be. It depends on whether your buyer demands a test and what local regulations require. The shed or back yard on a windless day are better than anywhere in your home.

Regards
Timo

[ladalet]

My Cremina is an "83" and still has asbestos on the boiler.

[Fullsack]

My Cremina is an "83" and still has asbestos on the boiler.

Then sometime in '83 they did away with the asbestos because one of my machines, the '83 #8324562, does not have asbestos on the boiler and from what I know of its history has probably never had an asbestos wrapped boiler.