[Elecraft] OT: Transformer oil in DL's

[David Christ]

Sort of my question.  In about 1969 when I was a lab tech for a small 
college I was given 5 gal out of a 55 gal barrel of transformer oil 
they had for X-ray machine transformers.  I still have that  pail, 
tightly capped, sequestered in a junk but dry trailer away from my 
buildings.  Haven't gotten it to haz mat disposal yet.  I often 
wished there was an easy test for PCBs.  If it were PCB free it would 
be nice to have.

David K0LUM


At 1:49 PM -0800 3/2/10, Alan Bloom wrote:
>When was the Heath Cantenna introduced?  I know it was already old news
>when I got started in 1968.  I found a reference to it in an old 73
>article in the January 1963 issue:
>
>The Heath Cantenna - 73 gets out the can opener ........ W3UZN  62
>
>Had PCBs already been discontinued by then?
>
>
>On Tue, 2010-03-02 at 19:44 +0000, Ken Kopp wrote:
>>  As a (retired) career power company employee I can say with
>>  reasonable certainty that the "transformer oil" that was available
>>  to --most-- scrounging hams since the introduction of the Cantenna
>>  was -unlikely- to contain PCB's. 
>>
>>  At least in the circumstances familiar to me, PCB-containing
>>  transformer oil was mostly long gone by the time the Cantenna
>>  was introduced.  It was certainly gone "as new" out of the barrel,
>>  but did remain in transformers already in place, but few if any
>  > hams received their oil from a transformer. (:-)
>>