Re: anybody tryied depotting NST with steam?

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Yurtle Turtle by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <yurtle_t-at-yahoo-dot-com>

I had a gas oven with electronic controls so I
basically started at the lowest setting, 100° I
believe. I placed the nst with the top off, sideways
in a big cheap shallow metal bowl. I had the fan on
high, and let it crank for 15 to 20 minutes. I kept
checking to see if the tar was softening. Each nst had
a slightly different temperature. After 20 to 30
minutes, if it wasn't soft enough to start oozing, I'd
increase the heat 5°. It never got hot enough to
really smoke or stink. As the tar oozed out into the
bowl, I'd take it into the garage and scoop the tar
out. I had to work fast as it hardened fairly fast.
When enough tar was out, I'd remove the bushings and
all wires, then pour out the core. Then I could scrape
off as much tar as possible then return it to the oven
for a final cleaning.

This wouldn't have worked on our previous oven with
analog controls. I believe the lowest setting was
close to 200°.

As far as microwaves go, everyone needs a junk
microwave in their shop to do do evil things with.
Helps keep the wife happy.

Adam


--- Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com> wrote:
> Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz
> <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>
> 
> Tesla list wrote:
> > 
> > Original poster: "Yurtle Turtle by way of Terry
> Fritz
> <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <yurtle_t-at-yahoo-dot-com>
> > 
> > Actually, I melted my "tars" at between 100° -
> 130°F
> > (depending on the manufacturer). For depotting,
> you
> > simply need to soften the tar enough for it to
> ooze
> > out. You don't want to subject the windings to
> 500°!
> > 
> > The steam might work, but I often left my NST's in
> the
> > oven for a half hour or so, then poured out some,
> then
> > repeated. The whole process took over an hour.
> > 
> > Adam
> 
> 	What kind of a mess did it make in the oven?  How
> bad did it smell when
> you were through?  I'd like to unpot a couple of
> small transformers but
> my wife would kill me if I messed up the oven the
> way I did the
> microwave (zapping a CD).
> 
> Ed
> 
> 


=====
Adam Minchey
yurtle_t-at-yahoo-dot-com
http://www.geocities-dot-com/yurtle_t/index.htm