From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.rv-travel
Subject: Re: Gasket Replacement for Camper Furnace?
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2004 13:39:36 -0500
Message-ID: <sen4p0lnunserl720asi241sjdijnb1hu4@4ax.com>

On Tue, 9 Nov 2004 21:11:20 -0800, "Ulysses" <therealulysses@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>I have an old Dolphin camper (1976).  The furnace has an access plate in the
>front, very close to the burner.  My problem is that it leaks because the
>old gasket fell apart when I cleaned the burner and pilot.  The first place
>I looked for a new one was an RV store and they basically told me nothing
>was available.  The old one was asbestos so finding that is pretty much out
>of the question.  I tried high temperature silicone but it only lasted a few
>days.  Anyone know of any material (Mylar perhaps) that can be used to make
>a new gasket?  I would guess that it gets up to 400 or maybe 500 degrees in
>there.

Fiberfrax (felt made from spun alumina fiber) is the usual asbestos
substitute.  Available in small quantity from crafts supply outfits that
cater to ceramics and bead makers.  Until it is heated the first time it
behaves like ordinary felt and can be cut with ordinary tools.

John

From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.rv-travel
Subject: Re: Gasket Replacement for Camper Furnace?
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 01:46:23 -0500
Message-ID: <q426p0hlg77isggt0ub6j6chfp6f4787dd@4ax.com>

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 18:59:43 -0800, "Ulysses" <therealulysses@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>Thanks, I'll try to find some.

Should be easy.  I think I saw some at Hobby Lobby even.

If you find you're having a lot of trouble finding the stuff and don't
want to order online, I offer another technique that I've used on occasion
for things like EGR valves that don't reach full exhaust temperature.

Take a large piece of aluminum foil and fold it a number of times until
you get somewhere around 25-50 layers, depending on the gap to be filled.
lay a block of wood on the stack and smack it a few times with a hammer to
smooth and compress it.  Then cut out your gasket with tin snips or
whatever.  The pure aluminum they make foil out of is quite soft and will
distort to fill irregularities in the mating surfaces.  You can cut some
strips of foil and wrap around the stack in a couple of places to hold it
together until you can get it mounted on the appliance.

Optionally, you can put a little glue (most any kind will do) between each
fold to hold the stack together.  It'll stink as it burns off but no harm
done.

Yet another option is a high temperature sealant from these guys:

http://cotronics.com/vo/cotr/

I use their high temperature epoxy for rebuilding high performance
electric vehicle motors and am very satisfied with it.  They sell direct
and in small quantities.

John