Re: [TCML] transformer oil source or substitute?

[Tim S <stm800@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello All,

one could prepare the oil by using a vacuum and boil off the water vapor at around 18 Torr at room temperature,or below in the millitorr range. (Harbor freight has vacuum roughing pumps for under 100 USD $$) .this used to be done in the hydraulic fluid of high altitude fighter jets because the viscosity of the oil was OK at low altitudes(ground level) but when it was in higher flight altitudes,(10k to 60k ) the oil lost all of it's earthly known characteristics due to foaming up which essentially was the water content, embedded at the molecular level of the oil,and the oil essentially out gassed (boiled off ) and created foam which was boiling off the water vapor.Oil works best as oil should, when water content is removed.why did Tesla boil his linseed oil?i really dunno but my guess is water content.
go ahead and try to compress air in a piston that has water content to make a piston move repeatedly each time ,the same time,on different days. grant you it might be done but not exactly,with bulls eye repeatable results,most people opt for dry gas like nitrogen or the like with out water vapor in a sealed system,just is the case when doing a capacitor or transformer for \Tesla coil work\....i want it to preform the same each and every day reliably

 

Take Care And this is a great list.Period!!

tim



--- On Thu, 8/27/09, J. Aaron Holmes <jaholmes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: J. Aaron Holmes <jaholmes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [TCML] transformer oil source or substitute?
To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thursday, August 27, 2009, 7:25 PM


--- On Thu, 8/27/09, jimlux <jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> transformer oil IS mineral oil, but mineral oil that has
> been kept dry and clean and is of the proper viscosity.

...and often has other chemicals in it to prevent oxidation and whatnot, or so says the Diala AX documentation I'm read.  Might be all marketing propaganda, though. :-)  Transformer oil is also generally yellow/orange, which might matter to somebody if they were building a clear tank with aesthetics in mind.

> The stuff has gone up in price recently.. used to be
> $4-5/gallon, but someone mentioned recently they paid almost
> $50 for a 5 gallon pail.

Yep.  I've typically paid $10/gal for it at a couple of local oil places in the Seattle, WA area (e.g., Ballard Oil).  That seems to be about the going price right now, unless you're really buying in volume.  Also, the manufacturers only usually sell the stuff in 50-gal drums, so any place selling in 5-gal pails has obviously been handling the stuff, and you should make sure they're doing so in a way that maintains its purity and low moisture content.  I'm forgetting my examples, but transformer oil does have some other industrial uses, and some smaller oil shops keep the stuff for this reason and not with electrical insulation/cooling in mind.

Cheers,
Aaron, N7OE
_______________________________________________
Tesla mailing list
Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
_______________________________________________
Tesla mailing list
Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla