Depotting...UGH!!!

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Original poster: "sundog by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <sundog-at-timeship-dot-net>

    Hi all,

Well, I bit the bullet today.  I pried the top of one of the dead
12/30's, turned it upside down on some wire mesh, slapped my
hotplate upside down underneath it, and puttered around the garage
as I kept an eye on it.   Things I observed...

 1.  Flames!!?!  Little gouts of fire popped at about 15 minutes
after I first started.  Not good.  They quit after ~1/2 an hour.
 2.  Smell.  Not too horrible actually.  Smelled like roofing tar,
but not too awfully strong or potent.  Though I personally like
Ozone better ;)
 3.  Messy.  Better said, *MESSY!*  The thing finally stopped
dripping, and when I lifted the case off (after pushing all the
terminal bolts back inside the case), the core slid out with a
"shluck!" and sat there, dripping black goo.....I scraped off as
much as I could with a screwdriver (sounds easy, isn't really),
then dumped it into a bucket.  I'll be depotting a few more, so
they're going to sit and wait to be soaked all together.  NST's get
frightened when you strip 'em naked and dump them in unfamiliar
enclosures.  I figured they'd need some company.

  I'm trying both the "melt it free" and "freeze and chip"
method..currently the "nst to freeze" is wrapped in tinfoil and
stuffed in the back of the fridge...now, it only it goes un-noticed
for a few days..*crossed fingers*
 I was just going to soak these in kerosene or diesel.  Anybody
know of anything better that won't eat the enamel, or take more
than a day or two to get here?
   Why on earth I'm doing this when I have a *perfectly* good pole
pig sitting there, I don't know.  Holiday spirit?  Hmmm...that
gives me an idea..
 plastic coat hangers holding a piece of 22ga wire out about 4"
from the house.  Run the wire all the way around the house, maybe
spell something out.  Hook 1 end to your mid-sized TC and fire it
off.  Instant corona-wire display!  Yeah, let the neighbors beat
that!  We'll make her just as bright as she can be!  Oh, yeah,
lookin' better already! (don't do this, you may burn down the
house, I'm only joking!)
                                    A slightly tar-stained Sundog