Asbestos in STACK Vista 640 gasket

[Amodio]

Hello everyone. This Is my first thread. I write you from Italy.

In a Mountain house I found a STACK VISTA 640 heater and i soldi likes ti know if the two gaskets are made of asbestos. The color Is White (look at attached photo).

I bought this heater at early 1990'.
I Hope sincerly you can help me. And congratulations for this great community!!

 

[begreen]

The seal is most likely fiberglass.

 

[Amodio]

Ok..other opinions?

 

[begreen]

It is an oldie. Moving to the Classics forum. This was the forerunner to the first Pacific Energy stove. Unfortunately, Tom Oyen has retired. He would have been the best person to answer this question. I can't give a more definitive answer, especially about a New Zealand stove exported to Italy. Maybe check Italy's import bans on asbestos products?

 

[Amodio]

Hello everyone. I am new and I write you from Italy.

In a mountain house I found a STACK VISTA 640 heater and I would like to know if the two gaskets (inside and a bit uotside) are made of asbestos. The color is white (look at attached photo).

I bought this heater at early 1990'.
I Hope sincerly you can help me. And congratulations for this great community!!

 

[Blazzinghot]

Amodio, from what I could find a person can't identify asbestos by looking at it. The picture you have posted looks like glass window wrap a person would see on any stove. Check out these two sites.

https://mesothelioma.net/asbestos-chimneys-furnaces-wood-stoves/ or this site https://www.asbestosprojectmanagement.com/blog/how-can-asbestos-be-identified/

It seems they quit using asbestos in the 80's. But if you want to be on the safe side have the gasket replaced. You might be able to do it yourself but need a good mask and rubber gloves. The hardest part is removing the screws that hold the metal strips that hold in the glass.

 

[Corey]

Good points above. The material looks a bit too white to me. Asbestos typically has a bit of a dingy / off white color, such as this comparison.

Though obviously this is not definitive and could easily be due to the lighting in your photo. A lot of other 'fiberglass vs asbestos' comparisons are also available. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=asbestos+vs+fiberglass

If you do decide to 'DIY' replacement, I would probably soak the gasket completely with water + a few drops of dish soap. This will keep down any additional dust. Remove the gasket with minimal disturbance and get it into a plastic bag ASAP, then wipe down all surfaces with paper towels, also wet with water/soap. "Technically", guys would probably show up in hazmat suits with full respirators, etc - but if you've already been exposed to the gasket, then removing it in the most dust-free manner possible likely isn't going to create any additional hazard.

 

[begreen]

I suspect it is fiberglass, but that would need to be locally verified.

Threads merged.