Re: [TCML] Diesel for transformer oil?

["J. Aaron Holmes" <jaholmes6502@xxxxxxxxx>]

Or see how much sulfur hexaflouride gas costs from AirGas.com or some such ;-))  Anybody tried a SF6-insulated x-ray tranny before?  It's probably way more $$, but then you might justify the cost by giving it the "original science" label ;-)

Also:  I've never managed to get Diala AX for < $10/gal, and that includes long before the oil price bubble.  Fortunately, I've never needed > ~7 gal at one time.  My two local oil joints have been selling for ~10/gal for as long as I can remember, in 5gal increments.  I suppose I'm probably getting ripped, but then the other option would be to ship it, and that would make it way more expensive!

I hear the laxative stuff is [relatively] cheap, however I've also heard you need to add some manner of preservative to it if you don't want it to go sour.

Cheers,
Aaron, N7OE

--- On Wed, 11/5/08, David Rieben <drieben@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> From: David Rieben <drieben@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [TCML] Diesel for transformer oil?
> To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 12:52 PM
> Hi all,
> 
> I have recently removed some bad oil from my
> x-ray transformer due to some internal arcing 
> that had been occuring. The oil was nearly 
> black with suspended carbon paritcles (not
> good). The tank holds a whopping 25 gallons
> and a quick call to my local oil jobber revealed
> that the recent lower spot market cost oil crude
> had obviously NOT yet trickeld down to the 
> transformer oil customer, as the price quote 
> for a Shell DialaX transformer oil was $10.01/gal!
> Partial fill-up is not an option for x-ray transfor-
> mers as they run a very high voltage/volume 
> ratio that is entirely dependant upon proper oil
> filling to be functional at anything near their 
> rated voltage. This got me to thinking about
> stories of scrap metal dealers running their 
> diesle trucks on the oil of reclaimed transformers
> and wondering if diesel fuel could also possi-
> bly be used for a suitable dielectric oil for 
> filling transformers. Diesel has an oily consis-
> tancy and can now be purchased for less than
> $4/gallon. I know properly rated transformer oil
> is the BEST but I just can't see dropping >$250
> to repair a transformer that I only paid $50 for
> when I bought it! How much does mineral oil
> laxitive at the farm coops generally go for per
> gallon? Any suggestions?
> 
> David Rieben
> 
> PS - Too bad that I couldn't have filtered the 
> contaminated oil to reuse.
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