[Nhcoll-l] Melting Le Parfait Gaskets

[John E Simmons]

Justin,
Compressible gaskets always fail, sooner or later.

The Le Parfait gaskets are usually made of a natural rubber-based compound
(the composition seems to have varied over the years).  Depending on the
composition of the gasket, the temperature at which the container is
stored, and what contact with the preservative solution the gasket
experiences, it will either harden and crack, or melt with time.

The only solution is to clean the remains of the gasket off of the jar and
replace it with either another Le Parfait gasket, or to have replacement
gaskets made from another compressible material (no gaskets for these jars
are permanent, but some materials last longer than others).

My experience with Le Parfait jars over many decades has been that you
cannot predict how long the gaskets will last, nor in what way they will
fail. I have had some gaskets last a very long time (five years or more),
others fail shortly after being put into use, and I have seen both hardened
and cracked gaskets, and melting gaskets.

--John


John E. Simmons
Museologica
128 E. Burnside Street
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010
simmons.johne at gmail.com
303-681-5708
www.museologica.com
and
Adjunct Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
and
Instructor, Museum Studies
School of Library and Information Science
Kent State University
and
Lecturer in Art
Juniata College
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 2:08 PM, Mann, Justin G <jmann at tulane.edu> wrote:

>  Hello everyone,
>
>
>
> We have several fluid preserved specimens in French “Le Parfait Jars”, and
> we have found that over time the gaskets (from Le Parfait) tend to turn
> soft and “melt.”
>
>
>
> Has anyone else found this issue with these or any other gaskets? Does
> anyone have a solution?
>
>
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
> Justin Mann
>
>
>
> Justin G. Mann
>
> Manager of Collections
>
> Tulane University Biodiversity
>
> Research Institute
>
> Belle Chasse, LA 70037
>
> Email: jmann at tulane.edu
>
> Phone: 504-394-1711
>
> Cell: 504-957-4074
>
>
>
>
>
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