[Boatanchors] Regarding PCB's

[Grant Youngman]

Do we really need this kind of bull on the list?  Is there a moderator out there?

Grant NQ5T

> On Dec 14, 2020, at 12:18 PM, Marvin Match <mvmatch at ece.utah.edu> wrote:
> 
> The subject of PCB's crops up now and again. I've waded through discussion after discussion on these lists. I want to try and put things into perspective by sharing my experience with the stuff, but I'm no expert. Take it or leave it.
> 
> In my 20's I worked for General Electric as a motor and transformer winder. I worked on motors with 12 foot diameter rotors, and oil-filled transformers the size of 3 refrigerators.
> 
> I was in PCB-laden transformer oil very frequently and usually washed it off my body with tichloroethane, another carcinogen. Some days my clothes would become soaked completely through. I would not be able to get out of them until after my shift ended and after the 15 mile ride back home on my motorcycle. Not every day mind you, but often. This went on for a couple of years.
> 
> Oh, come to think of it, lots of exposure to lead paint in the Navy as well. Applying white lead and red lead paints by brush almost every day and washing it off the exposed parts of my body with JP5 jet fuel.
> 
> I'm now 68 years old and do not have, nor have I ever had cancer.  On the other hand, if you search hard enough you can probably find a person that just walked past this stuff and is now trying to sue some company because they have cancer.
> 
> Now then, I don't advocate bathing in oils containing PCB's or trichloroethane, or lead paint, or jet fuel like I practically used to have to do. Now that we know more about these things that would just be stupid. You may not be as lucky as I have been if exposed to LARGE QUANTITIES of these chemicals for LONG PERIODS of time.
> 
> But guys, this stuff is not going to jump out and gobble you up. I've seen guys simply trash old equipment just because it MIGHT have a component containing PCB's but are completely unaware that the pole pig transformer on the power pole in their backyards is just waiting to spray them with PCB-laden oil as soon as one of the neighbor kids gets his first BB gun.
> 
> OK, no more ranting, I promise.
> 
> Back to the topic at hand . . . The capacitors in your vintage transmitter are oil filled paper dielectric. They don't have to contain PCB's, but they might. If they are leaking don't be afraid to replace them. Clean up the oil with a solvent in a spray can, like flux remover, car brake cleaner, carburetor cleaner or similar, (all of which are also carcinogenic BTW. Such Irony!)
> 
> If you're just seeing a little discoloration around the seals, that means almost nothing. If they are a little wet but not dripping clean it off with the spray solvent of choice and check it again in a year or two. The gaskets may be cork or paper or Garloc and some very minor seepage is actually normal.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> Marvin, KA7TPH
> 
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