|
Thread Number: 37538
/ Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
Qustions about a couple of brands and asbestos |
[Down to Last] |  |
| Post# 400345 , Reply# 1 11/3/2018 at 12:14 (2,015 days old) by TLFinland (Finland) | ||
|
I atteched a picture of the Centurion and Raketa. | ||
| Post# 400350 , Reply# 2 11/3/2018 at 12:43 (2,015 days old) by kenkart () | ||
|
No Asbestos Bags were just plain finely woven cotton. | ||
| Post# 400358 , Reply# 3 11/3/2018 at 15:48 (2,015 days old) by scoover (Scoovstoun, UK) | ||
 | ||
| Post# 400359 , Reply# 4 11/3/2018 at 16:34 (2,015 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana) | ||
There is no danger with asbestos unless you physically damage it in such a way as to spread the spores around. Asbestos contained within materials such as caulking, plaster lathe, floor tiles, and electrical cords is of low risk. It's only a danger when you are doing home renovation, and have asbestos containing insulation in your attic or any other materials in the home that are going to be torn down and spread dust and debris. Vermiculite attic insulation for one example is one of the most dangerous types of asbestos you could have in your house, as it is very easily spread by disturbance and since the spores are free-floating within the material.
Asbestos is designed to be heat-proof so if being used in motor wiring, the wires will be just fine because that is its job. However do inspect the wiring for any visible fraying or damage. They would not have used asbestos in cloth vacuum bags or on the hose liner, I believe those bags were made out of corduroy or some other such material, and the hose from a cotton type. I have several vacuums with asbestos cords on them (will need to be replaced due to general age decay) and I have asbestos wrap on my HVAC duct joints, and its perfectly safe. When I go to replace the vacuum cords, just a simple paper mask will be fine because it is very difficult to release any spores from the wrapped cord, unless you were to take a belt sander to it and start sanding away at it. | ||
| Post# 400360 , Reply# 5 11/3/2018 at 16:36 (2,015 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana) | ||
|
Here is a image containing various samples of asbestos electrical cords from Asbestorama on Flickr. www.flickr.com/photos/asb...
View Full Size
| ||
| Post# 400363 , Reply# 7 11/3/2018 at 17:10 (2,015 days old) by broomvac (N/A) | ||
 | ||
| Post# 400591 , Reply# 10 11/8/2018 at 23:57 (2,009 days old) by MadMan (Chicago, IL, USA) | ||
I'm afraid I don't have any concrete answers for you, either. But I would advise you not to be so terribly concerned about it. Remember that people who get melanoma/cancer from asbestos, are people that work in industries where they were exposed to MASSIVE quantities of asbestos dust, on a DAILY basis, for DECADES. Taking a whiff of trace amounts of asbestos once a week when you vacuum won't kill you. This whole modern thing about treating asbestos as a substance with the toxicity of cyanide is a little bit silly. The real issue with asbestos is that it wound up being put in SO MANY places where it would become easily airborne (insulation, brake shoes) that too many people were being exposed to too much of it. But I digress...
That having been said, however, if you have any suspicion that the bags may contain asbestos (I mean, they are Soviet made), you can just make new bags and keep the old bags in a box somewhere (to keep the value of your machines). A bag is just a piece of fabric, like denim or canvas or something. Someone decent at machine sewing should have no problem copying the old bags. That would really be the only place of concern, like you said, it is technically possible that asbestos fibers were woven in with the cotton, and in theory, might blow out of the bag during use. Anywhere else in the machine would be totally harmless. That heat shield you mentioned won't be an issue unless it's being rubbed on by moving parts, or something. As long as it's just a solid piece, particles of it cannot become airborne. As far as testing for asbestos goes, here in the US, you can go to any hardware store and they sell little asbestos testing kits for like $20USD. They are meant for homeowners to test stuff like tiles, plaster, or insulation in their old house. You take a sample of whatever and mail it to a place. I'd be surprised if you didn't have something similar over there. If you did, I imagine you could take a small snip of the bag fabric, on one of the places where two pieces of fabric are stitched together and there is extra fabric, you know what I mean? | ||
| Post# 400594 , Reply# 11 11/9/2018 at 01:56 (2,009 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana) | ||
|
MadMan is right (although breathing in any asbestos is bad - not just large amounts - it will latch into your lungs and fester there for decades unnoticed). It's great that you are concerned about asbestos exposure, because a lot of people aren't. It's just in this situation you're just concerned about it in the wrong ways. It's not uranium or graphite from Chernobyl reactor or anything like that, it's not that toxic. It's all low-risk exposure, and the only concrete way would be to find an expert that can see it in real kit/system there.
That cardboard you are talking about, if it is used within the motor casing is likely an asbestos fiberboard, which is used as a damper and it also heat-resistant. It was also used in antique radios around the tubes for the same purpose. Bakelite is made mainly from formaldehyde and phenol with small amounts of asbestos pulp as filler to help the material hold together. This is why the easy way to test if something is Bakelite is to just dampen it with some water and smell it, and if it reeks, then its Bakelite. But again, it's not hazardous. The main risk is if the material is "Friable" - if it can be worn down. An asbestos hair dryer for example would be considered friable asbestos. I think what might be a good idea, is ask this dude on Flickr (I am not sure if he is still active) - "Asbestorama" www.flickr.com/people/asb... I think he might be an asbestos abatement worker, but he also collects asbestos products and has a very good knowledge of the material. It's worth a shot. | ||
| Forum Index: | 
| Other Forums: |
|
|
|
|
|
Comes to the Rescue!
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}