I'm refurbishing a La Pavoni Professional, circa 1993. I've removed the sight glass bases and am replacing the gaskets that go against the boiler. I have teflon replacements from Stefano's Espresso Care (http://www.espressocare.com/products/item/teflon-gasket). The existing gaskets are rock hard and seem to be glued in place. Has anyone replaced these gaskets? Any advice on removing the old petrified gaskets? Here are some pictures, including a replacement gasket.

By the way, the second picture shows how the new gasket doesn't sit flush in the part (it should) due to the old gasket being still there.

Having worked for many years with hardened gaskets in compressors, even on soft brass, I've found a thick paint stripper works well. Not the sweet orange smelling stuff. It's clear and goopy and contains, as I recall methylene chloride or something like that. A small brush or q-tip will work.
The gasket softens enough to allow it to be picked out in pieces with a pin.

D.

Ok, that sounds like a really good next step. Thank you. Now if I could only buy paint stripper in thimble-size containers.

Cheap automotive carb cleaner will chew them up as well. I like dental scalers and picks better than pins for digging them out as once they start out a bit more carb cleaner and out they come.

For something like that I would burn it off using a small flame in a torch. One of those miniature butane soldering irons would do the trick.

Just to follow up and post of photo of what the fittings look like without the gaskets (something I couldn't find anywhere), here's the end result.



I don't know what these gaskets were made of. Asbestos? The carb cleaner option was cheaper than paint stripper ($2 for a can), however it didn't make a dent. Next I tried to burn them out with a propane torch. That eventually worked, but required carb cleaner and a set of picks to get all the remaining bits out. The gaskets didn't really burn but eventually glowed a little on the surface and seemed to soften a little. Thanks for the suggestions.

Asbestos was banned in Europe a very long time ago so I would suspect something such as aramid fiber and a binder.