Re: Help please - info on big CDE pulse caps?

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: FIFTYGUY@xxxxxxx 

Folks-

    Just a follow up - thanks all for the advice so far.
    The ".15 MFD" means .15 microFarads.
    A few of ya'll voiced your concerns (rightfully so) that these old 
caps might contain PCB's. I'd like to state here (semi-publicly) that they 
would appear to NOT be PCB filled.
    The gummy accumulation at the base of one insulator was, as Jim Lux 
guessed, simply gummy old oil. They slosh when shaken, so the oil still 
inside is quite thin (even at 45 deg F ambient) - not a viscous 
impregnation, as I understand PCB's used in caps tended to be.
    Sample oil has very little aroma, and what faint smell is there 
resembles fuel oil.
    Sample oil floats on water. Even after emphatic attempts at mixing it 
all stays on top.
    Sample oil supports combustion - vigorously! Burns with the typical 
hydrocarbon blue flame with yellow tops. No green tint at all. Hisses and 
pops flaming droplets of oil everywhere. Smoke has typical fuel-oil smell, 
no acridity/bleachy smell at all.
    However, this puts a new light on things. Catastrophic failure may 
constitute a serious fire hazard. Perhaps they should be drained and 
refilled with modern transformer oil? Would Diala mix with, say, residual 
fuel oil or mineral oil, or would it cause more problems than it would prevent?

-Phil LaBudde