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RE: Photo of my mystery transformer, calling chemists

Original poster: Vardan <vardan01@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi,

The "PCB thing" is long and boring ;-))  But I did have a few comments...

At 05:23 PM 12/2/2006, you wrote:

Hi Jim et al,

I have a three phase 6 pulse tube based PS that came from a Nikkei missile
base. It too is made by Raytheon. I want to open it and remove the filament
transformer which I believe to be separate and put my puck diodes inside and
filter cap. I will make a new .25" top for it. I have a 50 PPM test kit but
every one seems to agree that this era was PCB.
The oil generally has on obviously odd look and it will not burn. So "save" the kit... 



There have been conflicting persuasions that say that it is more likely PCB
would be present if there were capacitors in the tank.

I have been around toluene and such substances in abundance in my industrial
life, before safety considerations came into effect.

At least I don't smoke!
Not smoking is probably far more important, but toluene can seriously fry one's mind. But if you have made it this far... %;-) 



We used to run through the fog of the DDT foggers as kids in Illinois.
Me too ;-))) But "your health" is not the problem for everyone around you. The problem is "their health"... 



Anyway, My dilemma is this: I want to take this to demo at schools. The tank
is .25 inches thick. If I were to drain it and replace the oil with mineral
oil, my understanding is it would not pass the test, still, though it must
be safer considering the dilution.
50 PPM is the limit and that is 1/ 20,000th... It would be hard to clean it that good at home... Plus you have to find a safe home for the old oil... But dilution would make cleanup vastly easier which is the real concern... If it were already diluted way down, clean up would be vastly easier (cheaper)...
You could drain it twice to "flush" it and might get there... But then you have 2X the contaminated oil to get rid of...
If it spills, then they use 50PPM to decide if they should worry... If yes, then there are far far MORE tests to follow to see "how bad"... 



Here is the most obvious problem: where to take the oil. Are some states
less stringent than California, which is very anxx???
The biggest problem I see is having a major "spill"... In the garage, that would usually mean jack hammering out the concrete and possibly digging up some dirt underneath. However, there are many plastic things available you could put under it to catch any leak which would reduce clean up costs enormously!!!
I wonder if a real transformer shop could clean it for you. They already have all the "stuff" aside from this transformer is different than the usual ones...
So simply providing a catch basin for the oil could save you like $15000!! Much better to have a bucket with leaked oil that they could place in a waste container and "be gone", rather than having it on the floor, lawn, etc... requiring heavy equipment and people with respirators and all that...
A hasmat place might have approved containers that they could provide you. Just have to ask unless someone here already "knows"... 

Cheers,

        Terry



Thanks,
Jim Mora

PS can it be decomposed some how?
Sure!! At some insane temperature it will break harmlessly down. But it takes a special place that does hazardous waste incineration to do it right... Not a giant big deal now days...
The giant problem with PCB oil is it lasts "forever"... You can't trow it away since it will "be back" like Arnold... I think incineration by the hazardous waste guys is the only option to "get rid" of it... Look in the phone book, but hopefully someone here will "really know" how to do it... You could dump it on the lawn, but then the "choices" are like the old Star Trek..: 

Death by firing squad, death by hanging, death by gas, death by....
It is also probably illegal to transport the thing in your car... The hasmat guys will have to bring their armored car or something accident proof to pick it up...
The problem is if you have an accident, then it might splash all over an intersection in the middle of town which would give birth to a major cow....
PPS - You should have or will soon get the spark gap thing I sent you in the mail ;-)) 

Cheers,

        Terry
.....