[Hallicrafters] No PCB's in caps

[Rich Oliver]

I have had comments from a couple of you effectively saying "baloney" 
(or is that "balogna")?  I don't have all the answers and maybe the guy 
from Sprague didn't either.  I can only tell you I treat anything 
leaking out of nominally sealed components with the same respect I hold 
for B+.  With B+ I unplug the supply and discharge the caps, connect a 
clip lead between B+ and ground, then make a point of holding the power 
plug in my left hand (or sitting on it if I need both hands) while I 
work on the supply just to be sure.  This technique is not absolutely 
foolproof but it the best I have been able to come up with short of 
switching to stamp collecting, and I'm still kicking at age 54.

With the caps I verified with the fellow at Sprague that they contain no 
PCB's, but I do still treat them as if they are hazardous.  I line the 
storage boxes with plastic to contain possible leaks and newspapers to 
soak up any oil.  If I find a leak I dispose of the bad component and 
newspapers and plastic, then I wipe down the good units as best I can 
without getting any of the oil on me (hands in baggies), then I move the 
good units into a fresh box.  When finished I scrub my hands as if I did 
get oil on them.  When I use one of the oil caps I wipe it down with 
solvents to get rid of any residual oil.

I am not any sort of hazardous waste expert and this procedure is just 
what seems right to me.  If any of you can suggest safer ways of 
handling possible PCB's I'd be very glad to hear them.  I would also be 
most interested in any solid info about PCB's in components that I might 
actually have or use.

Bring back the good ol' days when Mercury was fun and Freon was good. 
Oh yeah, I miss the fluoroscopes in the shoe stores, too.

73, Rich, KC9GQ



Rich Oliver wrote:
> Several years ago I noticed that a couple of my oil filled HV caps had 
> started to leak.  I did not know how excited I should get about this 
> development so phoned the engineers at Sprague.  They told me they have 
> never used PCB's in any of their caps; PCB's were only used in 
> transformers.  The tone of the fellow I talked to was of forbearance, 
> like he really wished we would all get a clue and leave him alone.  It 
> was his opinion that nobody ever put PCB's in caps.  Of course that was 
> one engineer at one company....
> 
> 73, Rich
> 
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