[Milsurplus] Oil filled capacitors and PCBs in our equipment

[Bruce MacMillan]

If you have a part number try to find the MSDS or data sheet. The 
manufacturer info on the series should list any hazard with the item. A 
lot of the lower value and voltage caps used mineral oil not pcb.

Bruce
M0SOE

On 01/12/2023 17:05, Reuben Popp wrote:
> My apologies to everyone for spamming the list so much lately.  I'm 
> trying to do my research before asking the list, but sometimes my 
> google-fu isn't exactly fruitful.
>
> Anyway...  Oil filled caps in our gear.  Was it standard to denote 
> whether they contained PCBs in them, or is it a safe assumption that 
> ANY oil filled cap with a manufacture date before 1980 is suspect?  As 
> most of those are likely out of spec and leaky, is there ANY way to 
> open the cap, dispose of the contents at an EPA approved site and then 
> restuff the shell with new components?  Or is my only recourse to 
> decouple the old cap from the circuit and then place newer ones under 
> the chassis (or try to hide them, etc).  If my only option is the 
> latter, once decoupled from the circuit, what's the likelihood that it 
> will actually start leaking (as in, the oil).  One would think that 
> would be fairly miniscule, but what with some of these going on 80+ 
> years old, it's a crap shoot at this point, no?
>
> Thanks again
> Reuben
>