Re: where to get dielectric oil? =

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

Original poster: "David Rieben" <drieben-at-midsouth.rr-dot-com> 

Terry, all,

I called the local authorized Shell Oil distributor today
and found that they did carry the Shell Diala oil, but
not the type M. They did carry one of the 2-letter
grades (can't remember which one off hand) but
it wasn't currently in stock in the local warehouse.
However, they did have some in stock at the ware-
house in Jackson, TN (about 80 miles). They could
bring it from their Jackson warehouse and have it ready
for pick up in  couple of days. Their price for it is
$5.28/gal, which puts a 5 gallon container at $26.40.
That seemed reasonable enough to me so I ordered
one 5 gallon container. BTW, this oil company is the
only local authorized Shell Oil distributor for the Mem-
phis and Jackson, TN area according to the Shell Oil
webpage, so shopping around locally didn't seem to
be an option for me.....

David Rieben

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 3:40 PM
Subject: Re: where to get dielectric oil? =


 > Original poster: Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-twfpowerelectronics-dot-com>
 >
 > Hi David,
 >
 > Phenolic type "GPO3" is very tracking resistant.  It is a red to pink
 > polyester phenolic that is used in all kinds of HV electrical
 > stuff.  McMaster sells it somewhere but I can't find it at the
 > moment...  Polypropylene will burn up bad, but it is very resistant to
 > failing in the first place that may indeed fix the problem ;-))  G-10 is
 > nice for low voltage stuff but GPO3 is best of HV...
 >
 > Water at the bottom of a container of transformer oil is usually
considered
 > a disaster...  Oil can hold a lot of water, thus the vacuuming of
 > refrigeration systems and all to purge out all the water...  The thing I
 > saw for a big substation transformer oil filling, heated the oil to boil
 > off water under vacuum in a continuous loop recirculating system.  Quite
an
 > operation!!  It took days...  That transformer slide 3 feet on the rail
car
 > it was delivered on (200 tons!!) and came damaged.  They "thought" they
had
 > it all fixed...  It failed within a year and destroyed the substation
 > ($15,000,000!!!)...  But the mechanical damage was to blame, not the
 > oil.  They tested transformer oils all the time for breakdown as a
periodic
 > check to be sure water was not getting in...
 >
 > If you really care, I would get that nice new Shell oil and all...  I
 > really worry about used oils or "just any" oils for things that really
 > matter...  "Water" is the worst enemy.  I seem to remember a "descant"
that
 > works inside transformer oil too....  But just "clean and dry" will fix
 > 99.9% of problems...  I would consider sloshing around alcohol, like the
 > gallon tins from the hardware store first to clean things if needed.
Then
 > heat the thing up for a day or so to drive out water.  "Any oils" may not
 > have all the "bad oils" removed that could attack transformer shellacs on
 > the wires and all too...  "Detergent" motor oils are designed to eat
though
 > shellacs which may not be a good thing in a tranny!!
 >
 > If you get oil from Shell, please tell us how it goes (cost??)...  They
 > seem very happy to sell it to anyone they can find ;-))
 >
 > Cheers,
 >
 >          Terry
 >
 >