Biochemscientist
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Good material to substitute for asbestos in hot plate?
Hi all.
I was recently taking apart my old Fisher Scientific hotplate to repair a short in the heating element, and I noticed that the heating element is
insulated by a couple layers of fibrous white sheets made of a material which I assume is asbestos. The insulation sheets are getting old and are
beginning to flake and fall apart somewhat, and I would like to replace them with a material which is less hazardous than asbestos. I am wondering if
anybody here is aware of a good material that would function well as an asbestos substitute for this type of application?
Thanks!
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inspector071
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How old is the hotplate? The stuff could be just fiberglass. If it is in fact asbestos, something like fiberglass would substitute nicely, I imagine.
Got any pictures of the material?
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Hexavalent
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Does it look like this? Only I use this kind of stuff in lots of applications around the lab, e.g. in my mini-furnace, homemade mel-temp apparatus
etc. and it is some sort of mineral fibre stuff. My uncle is a gas/electricity repair man and he gave me several large sheets of this stuff, although
I can't be certain what he uses it for.
[Edited on 4-6-2012 by Hexavalent]
"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Winston Churchill
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Endimion17
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Is the flaky stuff falling out of the hotplate during usual work? If not, leave it alone. It won't hurt you even if it's asbestos. I use asbestos mats
(in iron netting) for occasional heating over the flame. I don't blow them and I don't shake them. Powder dispersion is minimal. After they've cooled
down, I put them in a plastic envelope.
There's nothing wrong with asbestos if you use it carefully, especially if it's inside a hotplate where it's safe. You won't die or get cancer. It
doesn't evaporate, and it's insoluble.
You get asbestosis if you work at least several years in an environment where asbestos powder is gliding through the air, such as asbestos cement
factories and nearby environment, etc.
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watson.fawkes
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Without good photos, it's hard to say what the actual configuration is, but I can hazard a guess. The
material I would think you're looking for is generically called ceramic fiber cloth. It's usually a non-woven material, much like felt, made of
refractory fibers, that is, not glass. Woven versions are available, though I doubt you need it for a hot plate. Thinner versions are called "paper",
thicker ones "blanket". Major brands are Fiberfrax and KaoWool.
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