[R-390] Cosmos Dis-assembly

[Tisha Hayes]

I do not think it matters if you use nitrogen, argon or any other inert gas.
If you have it available to you that is fine. If you have just dried air and
a decent desiccant package that should be fine too.

On large substation transformers we use a nitrogen blanket in place of air
above the transformer oil. We keep it under a very low positive pressure
just so if there is a leak it is away from the transformer and it does not
suck moisture in. If you look at a giant substation transformer you will see
a pressure gauge that shows -/+ pressure of only a few PSI.

Argon is more inert than nitrogen and it is also denser so maybe the leakage
rate across seals may be slightly less. Keeping a pressure seal on any type
of vessel is going to require very good shaft seals and the cover seal will
need to be in great shape. I doubt that any of the seals on any of our PTO's
are in great shape any more.

If you have it, and it makes you feel better than by all means use it. I
would not go running out to buy a tank of gas just so I could put an inert
gas in the PTO. Heck, if it did not dissolve things and totally screw up the
dielectric constant you might as well fill the entire PTO with transformer
oil. That is something else to consider, gasses that significantly vary from
atmospheric may alter the dielectric of the PTO assembly. Who knows to what
degree. Nitrogen is 78% of our normal atmosphere so it would have the least
impact.

-- 
Ms. Tisha Hayes/ AA4HA
----------------
"your parent tree stifled your theme desire and gave rise to your desire to
dwark someone in a blendish manner" -- X Minus One, Bad Medicine