Capacitors and PCB

To: tesla-at-grendel.objinc-dot-com
Subject: Capacitors and PCB
From: jim.oliver-at-welcom.gen.nz (Jim Oliver)
Date: Sat, 23 Sep 1995 07:06:00 GMT
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Subject: Re: capasitors..

TE>From kukkonen-at-snakemail.hut.fi Wed Sep 20 11:12 MDT 1995

TE>about pcb's : I was told when I got an old xformer that had been
TE>constructed in the 50's and has some pcb-oil as insulation that
TE>pcb's aren't really that dangerous unless you drink the oil :) or
TE>_burn_ it - that's how the nasties are formed according to him..
TE>It's quite logical : for an xformer fails it will generate heat
TE>and thus the pcb's will get hot/burn and _voila_ - nasty chemicals
TE>will form.. (the above about pcb's just as I was told, not verified)

It's not the PCB's themselves, rather the by-products in the the
oils. PCB's are chlorinated aromatic organic compounds, which is
a fancy way of saying that they can contain as by-products some
dioxin "like" chemicals which are exceedingly poisonous, by skin
absorbtion, or mouth. Old oils that have been working for years
in warm to hot transformers can contain higher levels of these
materials than simply "old" (i.e stored) oils.

The industry was very reluctant to get rid of them because they
were very effective as coolants and relatively cheap. They were
_forced_ into it by the toxic nature of the mostly unavoidable
by-products.

Some companies who have old PCB transformers would be "delighted"
to have someone take them off their hands because they cannot
(cannot = very expensive and difficult) get rid of them. BEWARE
of unscrupulous companies.

Jim Oliver <jim.oliver-at-welcom.gen.nz> (3:771/370)

 * SLMR 2.1a *