RE: "aquarium gravel" in pole pig? :\

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

Original poster: "Christopher 'CajunCoiler' Mayeux" <cajuncoiler-at-cox-dot-net> 

They don't have to be a pig to be heavy either.  When I
first tried to pic up the isolation transformer that I
used in my "megafilter", I thought sure I did myself a
mischief, but my intestinal wall proved stronger. :)
See also:
http://www.msbdatasystems-dot-com/cajuncoiler/Images/it.jpg
I think we (list members) estimated it to be between
1.5 and 2 kva, if i remember right. :)

 > -----Original Message-----
 > From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
 > Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 5:37 PM
 > To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
 > Subject: Re: "aquarium gravel" in pole pig? :\
 >
 >
 > Original poster: "J. Aaron Holmes" <jaholmes-at-silicon-arcana-dot-com>
 >
 >
 > Well, statically, they meter out like I'd expect, but
 > we'll see what I get after I add some oil.  They come
 > from an urban utility, and the story I got was that
 > they were replaced with higher-powered units and that
 > they aren't re-deploying anything smaller than 25kVA.
 > Guy said he hadn't seen a 5kVA unit in years.  They
 > offered to add oil before I took them away, but I
 > opted to collect the oil separately to make
 > transportation easier.  I just didn't have the kind of
 > moving equipment on hand to deal with them filled.  As
 > it was, I discovered that a 15kVA unit doesn't need
 > oil to be VERY heavy, and looking inside, I have no
 > wonder why! :)
 >
 >  > Original poster: Crow Leader
 >  > <tesla-at-lists.symmetric-dot-net>
 >  >
 >  > On Tue, 10 Feb 2004, Tesla list wrote:
 >  >
 >  >  > Original poster: "J. Aaron Holmes"
 >  > <jaholmes-at-silicon-arcana-dot-com>
 >  >  >
 >  >  > Got a couple new [to me] pole pigs the other day.
 >  >  > 15kVA -at- 14.4kV.  One's a Westinghouse, the other
 >  > an
 >  >  > RTE.  Both are presently empty of oil.  I popped
 >  > the
 >  >  > lid on the RTE today, and I see what looks like
 >  > white
 >  >  > aquarium gravel in the bottom of the can and some
 >  > on
 >  >  > the top of the transformer (I know that's not
 >  > actually
 >  >  > what it is, of course).  Anybody have any idea
 >  > what it
 >  >  > is?  Both units were certified working by the
 >  > utility
 >  >  > I purchased them from, and I've called my contact
 >  >
 >  > This sounds suspect. Why were they pulled from
 >  > service and sold if they're
 >  > tip-top? I don't have an exact date, but I think it
 >  > was sometime in the
 >  > 80's when RTE was absorbed and the name went away.
 >  >
 >  > Skipping ahead, there are quite a few posts
 >  > suggesting that maybe it's
 >  > silica gel, to remove water from the oil.
 >  >
 >  > If there is water in the oil, the transforer is
 >  > already destroyed. Silica
 >  > gel is not the solution. If I slop pop all over my
 >  > laptop, then dust it
 >  > off with silica gel, it's not closer to being fixed
 >  > or good again.
 >  >
 >  >
 >  > KEN
 >  >
 >  >
 >
 >
 >