Quick Tip: Easy and Very Fast Gasket Removal

 
I did a clean burn on my mini and was't paying attention to catch the gasket from sealing the dome to the base... hence the egg sealed shut.

I will post pictures later on.

I decided to try a different gasket removal technique. I grabbed my utility knife, Stanley knife with break-a-way blade, Mapp torch and some paper towels. Heated about a 4" length stretch of the gasket and laid the blade almost flat against the ceramics and slid the blade along the ceramic. The hot gasket and adhesive lifted right out without any pressure at all. Absolutely no gouging or damage to the ceramics.

The ease and speed of the removal was dependent on long I left the heat on the gasket material. I did not burn the gasket material just heated it.

The removal of the base and dome was under 5 minutes per side and there was no effort expended at all.

The ceramics were black but there was no gasket or adhesive left of the surfaces. I ended up heating the surface more which acted much like a clean burn and those areas turned almost white. The time for this was much longer but again there was no effort.

Rubbing with alcohol and acetone didn't do a get a visual clean of the ceramic surfaces.

This process was great for BGE felt gasket removal. I am guessing removing Nomex applied with 3M Super 77 would be much the same. I am not sure how well this would work with Rutland adhesive, silicone or permatex adhesive.

GG