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Salvaging Surplus

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LAN_403

quicksilver

Fri Feb 18 2011, 11:40PM

Registered Member #1408 Joined: Fri Mar 21 2008, 03:49PM
Location: Oracle, AZ
Posts: 679

I have an opportunity to salvage a great deal of surplus HV items. However due to insurance the only thing I can bring with me is a DIMM & other hand held items. I would not be permitted to run anything but what I may carry into the storage area. Therefore an "amp clamp" or any mains related items would do me no good.
In terms of weather exposure, how well do variacs, large capacitors and assorted 1960's-70's period items hold up? Would testing these items in a rudimentary fashion tell me if they could preform safely? Some have obviously been exposed to weather; yet they appear (superficially) to be intact. Will resistance level, capacitance value, etc give me more than a little indication whether they are worth buying (or safe)? Under no circumstances would I bring large caps up to full levels but would their values indicate that they may still preform at 50%, etc? Should a large variac, wire wound HV resistors, etc. be able to be subjected to moisture; dried and not suffer irreparable damage?

Some of those that have a great deal of HV value have not been kept indoors. I am willing to gamble if I stand more than an even chance. Many items such as SMAW welders have also been weather exposed. They are all completely dry and have been for some time (months at least: Arizona dry conditions). It's not so much the money but these are very large items and disposal would be problematic.

Opinions please....?

James

Sat Feb 19 2011, 12:31AM

Registered Member #3610 Joined: Thu Jan 13 2011, 03:29AM
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 506

I've recovered electronics that were submerged in water, mud, etc, so overall I'd say anything that is not rusted solid has a very good chance of working. Most HV components will be well sealed anyway. I would definitely recommend thoroughly drying everything out before applying power. As for disposal that's not hard. Anything with a good amount of metal that isn't filled with toxic substances you can take to a scrap metal yard. If it has a significant amount of copper, aluminum or other expensive metals you can even get money for the scrap. That said, I would not pay more than scrap value for any of this stuff that has been sitting outside. If it were worth more than that, it would have been kept indoors.

Dr. ISOTOP

Sat Feb 19 2011, 03:40AM

Registered Member #2919 Joined: Fri Jun 11 2010, 06:30PM
Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 652

Take it all! Deal with broken things later

Variacs and pulse capacitors stand up pretty well to weather.

Sulaiman

Sat Feb 19 2011, 09:01AM

Registered Member #162 Joined: Mon Feb 13 2006, 10:25AM
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3141

Grab whatever you can transport except polarised/electrolytic capacitors or anything severely corroded.
As above, most things can be cleaned up or worst case sent for scrap.

IntraWinding

Sat Feb 19 2011, 03:46PM

Registered Member #2261 Joined: Mon Aug 03 2009, 01:19AM
Location: London, UK
Posts: 581

Clean without causing further damage, rinse thoroughly with deionised water and dry thoroughly.
Fixes lots of stuff you'd have thought was beyond hope.

quicksilver

Sat Feb 19 2011, 05:13PM

Registered Member #1408 Joined: Fri Mar 21 2008, 03:49PM
Location: Oracle, AZ
Posts: 679

I deeply appreciate all of the input. I will see what's available and get back on this subject. I have been doing all I can to find these sources specifically & (if valuable) to share in what I find and methods to find same.
I have found sources of pigs as well as items used in a great deal of past research (Los Alamos, etc). There are sources available for those exact items sold in Surplus Sales of Nebraska for pennies on the dollar.
I am looking forward to sharing what I find and doing my best to determine if these same sources are available overseas.
It's my belief that HV materials may be harder to find for some of the reasons quoted above: the cost of manufacture.

Martin King

Sat Feb 19 2011, 05:36PM

Registered Member #3040 Joined: Tue Jul 27 2010, 03:15PM
Location: South of London. UK
Posts: 237

bwang wrote ...

Take it all! Deal with broken things later

I'd agree with that, I cleared a load of stuff from a printers

Luckily the deal was that I took everything, no picking and choosing, if that hadn't been the deal I probably would have left behind a large, very heavy, difficult to dismantle proof printing press which turned out to contain some very useful hydraulics, motors and a 3 phase inverter drive. It took me a whole weekend to dismantle and shift everything, all the scrap went to a local scrap yard and more than paid for my fuel costs

Martin.

quicksilver

Sat Feb 19 2011, 08:07PM

Registered Member #1408 Joined: Fri Mar 21 2008, 03:49PM
Location: Oracle, AZ
Posts: 679

You fellows were on the money (no pun intended) I just brought into my house a Varian "Pump Control Unit" that SSN lists for $500 for about $6

13Kav 5Kv/1.6A
I have other Los Alamos items that I have to sort out. And frankly I wish I was 20yrs younger as this is weight lifting. The pump control unit has (I am not exaggerating) a 150lb dry transformer and the main cap is almost as large as a shoe-box. The amount of hollow HV resistors and ceramic stand-offs would have been worth 3x that!

I also have a chance at some pigs from another source but unquestionably need another human being to help me lift those guys.

If you have any interest in salvaging I am MORE than happy to tell you where I go, what I say, how I get them - please PM me. I believe these places would also exist in the UK of course and most likely Europe and Asia in larger cities.

I highly suggest you bring with you a DIMM, a powerful hand-held light and a very small or dental mirror. I turned down a variac that appeared beautiful but upon examination I found a serious welded flash-burn on the underside where I wound not have noticed otherwise. It was irreparable ( to my knowledge) as it was a multi-wire fusing and deep enough so that more than 5 wires were fused together.
Much of this stuff is 1970's; a leaky cap may have toxic materials, cracks in components would also need a mirror and exterior lighting to see.

I was lucky this time as I didn't get the "haul the whole mess or no deal" theme. I turned down a Radar unit previously due to that and may go back if I an get a mid-sized truck and another person. The thing was like a very large desk!

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