RE: [TCML] pole xfmr (getting one, prices, etc.)

[Jim Lux <jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
>From: "J. Aaron Holmes" <jaholmes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Dec 5, 2007 2:51 PM
>To: Tesla Coil Mailing List <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: RE: [TCML] pole xfmr (getting one, prices, etc.)
>
>$800-1200 USD is about right for a ***brand new***
>pole transformer in the 10-15kVA range.

>pricing--he'll probably chime in!).  The "other"
>option, and one which I've personally used with great
>success, is to pester your local utility company about
>buying junked units.  The smaller ones are probably
>more likely to talk to you.  All told, I've purchased
>six working 15kVA and 25kVA units over the last few
>years and never paid more than $150 for one (Seattle
>area).  I also managed to fetch them myself from the
>scrap yard, thereby eliminating the onerous shipping
>charges.
>

The "get a transformer from the utility" isn't always an option. For instance, in Southern California, the utilities are Southern California Edison (SCE), the LosAngeles Department of Water and Power (LA DWP), and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E).  All of these will NOT sell/give/transfer scrap or surplus transformers to individuals, because of the downstream toxic materials hassles.  The "cradle to grave" liability aspect is just too much risk for them to risk having you have a transformer leak in your back yard, have a neighbor wonder if it's contaminated, triggering a huge fracas to determine just where it came from, guys in white bunnysuits with 55 gallon drums of dirt, and so forth.  It's easier for them to "just say no", so they sell all their surplus to big transformer recycling firms like Sunbelt or T&R.


 (not that such transactions don't occur when things fall off the back of a truck or are accidentally left behind at a work site repairing fire damaged poles.. it's just very rare in today's world)
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