Bush SRG86 Asbestos?

[kirstyd]

I have the same gram. It wa my parent's. Why not just put the chassi back in and leave well alone. Its been in there since 19%8 or there abouts and once the back is on no one can touch it.

[The Philpott]

If you could comment on the success of the PVA treatment/s that would be a help. I did consider it for the asbestos core of the dropper in my battery charger, but couldn't find any definitive feedback regarding quite how it would cope with the heat.

[PJL]

I would carefully remove the board whilst soaked in PVA and get rid of it then wash the cabinet down outside (probably not right now as the water might freeze!).

Despite everything we can now do we still haven't learnt from our mistakes. It was asbestos then and now we have cladding.

[The Philpott]

In the industry encapsulation is an acceptable solution where removal is inadvisable or impractical. This philosophy could realistically be extended to fibre within old appliances, but if there was room on the inside of the rear cover i would, personally,add a durable asbestos warning sticker/label out of respect to future owners/custodians. If no room on the inside i would try and find a way to place a (slightly less garish) warning on the outside near the fixing screws.

My council actually took away bagged up soffit containing fibre from my house FOC a couple of years ago (limit 40kg.) I was surprised.

[Techman]

Originally Posted by PJL

I would carefully remove the board whilst soaked in PVA and get rid of it

Get rid of it where?

[The Philpott]

..As an aside- 1" x 2" warning labels freely available, jut bought a few online, which worked out at 7p each. Might need varnishing or lacquering over depending on quality (remains to be seen)

[PJL]

Originally Posted by Techman

Get rid of it where?

Double wrap in air tight bags and find a recycling centre that takes asbestos. I would not leave it as there will be a strong thermal up draft over the sheet which would release any fibres into the room.

[PsychMan]

Didn’t realise there were more replies to this.

So far I’ve painted up with PVA, including the inside where the chassis sits. I had planned to cover the sheet again with plumbers solder mat. The top of the asbestos is too close to the cabinet to allow that to be painted, so removal may be riskier than covering completely. If I can lap the solder mat round all the edges, I’ll probably do that.

I do plan to put a clear warning inside the cabinet and at the rear

I haven’t done this yet as I’m still working on the chassis. All of the hunts capacitors have been changed and some resistors, just working through checking the last few but it works very well and was 90% there before my work to be honest.

[Techman]

Asbestos can be dangerous as we're all aware, but we mustn't get too worked up about these things as there's probably more of it around us all than we realise - we just have to be sensible about it and take the best precautions we can.

I'm not sure about labels - this will probably sign its death warrant in the future. If you've got floor tiles from the 60s under your carpets then they're full of Asbestos as is the mastic that sticks them down. Asbestos is probably boxed in behind the UPVC cladding under your eaves. It may be in that old Artex beneath the plaster on your ceiling or sanded down behind that wallpaper on your wall. It's in that Morphy Richard iron in your cupboard or around the element in that other heating appliance of whatever type you may have. If I think I've got those Marley Tiles on the floors under my carpets, do you think I'd better start running round the house sticking little warning labels round the skirting boards with arrows pointing down towards the floor? Do you think I should check behind the cladding under my eaves just in case there's Asbestos sheeting there and if there is, should I fit all the labels low down on the wall where they can be seen without using a ladder, or should I fit them high up on the wall and should I make them from weather resistant material? You can see how silly all of the above is, but I'm trying to make a point.

Seal - forget - move on! Just be careful with that vacuum cleaner and dust, as that's where the real risk is, although I note from your previous post that you already had that situation very well under control.

[regentone001]

I must admit I totally agree with the above, the ironing boards our mothers had would have had an asbestos sheet for the iron rest. Asbestos pads were available to use on cookers to diffuse the heat. I have been amazed at some of the over the top comments in this thread. As long as it is in good condition and not loose or flaking, seal and forget.

[Audio1950]

Originally Posted by regentone001

As long as it is in good condition and not loose or flaking, seal and forget.

Quite. It would be interesting to find out how many previous owners of the radiogram have died of an asbestos - related disease as a result of living with this supposedly lethal material lurking within the depths of their furniture. None, I venture to suggest! I have an identical radiogram, with the identical piece of asbestos. I also have a 6' x 3' sheet of asbestos from a garage roof that the previous occupier kindly left in the garden. Now that IS a problem, but the comparatively tiny bit in the radiogram can stay exactly where it is, undisturbed and unsealed.

Barry

[PsychMan]

I had a look at fitting some solder mat over the top, but it looked easier to replace it entirely. I managed to carefully unscrew the now sealed sheet and remove it successfully, while sealing the area left behind. The top of the board directly under the cabinet top did look quite flaky to me and a little bit of dust was on the cabinet, now painted up with PVA.

I do accept everyone's points about not overreacting, this sheet did not however seem in a very stable state so I'm glad its gone now.

I took the piece to a tip double bagged and expecting the worst, but I seemed to have timed the visit well. The chap there couldn't be bothered to charge me, took the bag away with him and said it will go off with the bigger stuff.

There were two strips of what looked like paxolin attached to one side as a spacer between the sheet and the cabinet. I think I will do the same thing with my solder mat. Does it matter what I use with this? I have some offcuts of ply that is the same thickness. Given the solder mat will be underneath it, maybe I'm overthinking this now.

[PJL]

2,500 asbestos related deaths/year
1,713 deaths on the road/year

I would agree there is fear mongering, probably by companies that profit from removal, as most of these are from the building trade when asbestos was everywhere and nobody used masks. However, these are not numbers that I am happy ignoring.

[Techman]

Originally Posted by PJL

2,500 asbestos related deaths/year
1,713 deaths on the road/year

I'm sorry to say, and with all due respect, the comparison of those two sets of figures is nonsensical in my honest opinion. The asbestos related deaths are from exposure from decades ago, whereas the road deaths are (I guess) from last year. You would need to quote the figures from road deaths from those decades in the distant past from when those present sufferers first contracted the disease for them to have any relevance, and although I haven't checked, I understand that there were more road deaths in the past than there are now, certainly as regards the ratio of number of cars on the road to deaths caused.

Well done to the OP for getting the asbestos taken in without charge. I seem to remember that when I got involved in all this sort of thing a few years ago, that it was charged by weight which amounted to a 1cwt sized bag, and there was a minimum charge of the equivalent to the weight of one bag, regardless of how small the piece of asbestos was. I can't remember the charge, but it was expensive.