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Need help identifying a capacitor

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Adam Munich

Tue Mar 08 2011, 01:59AM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

Why would you dispose of such a nice capacitor? A 3kV 120uF cap is something that can be used for a lot of fun projects...

Patrick

Tue Mar 08 2011, 02:55AM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

Its a value judgement. For me there is no question, I'd get rid of it. It's just too dangerous in the state of California for me, too much liability. You Grenidier and others can choose to own whatever you want.

Adam Munich

Tue Mar 08 2011, 03:09AM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

I wish I could afford to have you ship me it...

Hmm... a large flat rate box costs only $14, but it's only 12" x 12" x 5 1/2". I wonder if you could squeeze it in there. By "about" do you mean bigger or smaller?

Nevermind, it looks too big to fit.

Patrick

Tue Mar 08 2011, 04:37AM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

Grenadier wrote ...

I wish I could afford to have you ship me it...

I think the weight will be the limiting factor not the dimensions. Do not ship this via airmail, if something happens involving a leak and an aircraft, even if the plane is parked, this would likely be a felony investigation. Ground shipping might be ok.

If I were you Grenadier I would:
1) wash the whole case in acetone.
2) preserve or make a new label.
3) scrub with steel wool and acetone the whole thing.
4) then remove the paint around the seems, insulators...down to bare metal.
5) then use metal epoxy or PMMA epoxy to fill all suspicious locations welded/crimped seams.
6) make it near leak proof. And clean it again with acetone, then paint it with high quality spray paint, a color of you choice.

Then it should be"acceptable" (short of your home burning down around it).

James

Tue Mar 08 2011, 09:18PM

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

Perfectly acceptable to ship it via UPS, pack it right and nobody would know the difference. Is it actually illegal to own PCB containing items even in CA? I know for a fact there are lots of PCB filled capacitors in the Los Angeles roadway lighting as I have some old stuff that was removed from there in the last few years.

If your house burns down around it, the PCBs will be incinerated, no problem there. This stuff is just not THAT dangerous, the hysteria is ridiculous. Don't eat it, don't bathe in it, don't intentionally pour it out on the ground. Otherwise don't worry about it. That's a nice capacitor and it would be a shame to waste it.

Adam Munich

Tue Mar 08 2011, 11:03PM

Registered Member #2893 Joined: Tue Jun 01 2010, 09:25PM
Location: Cali-forn. i. a.
Posts: 2242

James wrote ...
This stuff is just not THAT dangerous, the hysteria is ridiculous.

Asbestos - Fine when left alone, media went crazy and people tore it all out, harmed themselves more than if they would have let it be.

Mercury - Fear blown way out of proportion. Just look at the comments

Lead - Same thing, hell I can show a classmate a block of lead and he runs like hell because it's "deadly". Fun stuff...

Uranium metal - ZOMG RADIATION! Enough said.

Patrick

Tue Mar 08 2011, 11:04PM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

Grenadier wrote ...

Asbestos - Fine when left alone, media went crazy and people tore it all out, harmed themselves more than if they would have let it be.

Mercury - Fear blown way out of proportion. Just look at the comments

Lead - Same thing, hell I can show a classmate a block of lead and he runs like hell because it's "deadly". Fun stuff...

Uranium metal - ZOMG RADIATION! Enough said.

I totally agree with your above points Grenadier, especially asbestos. And mercury metal is harmless (except for its high vapor pressure, keep away from mucous membranes.) Every idiot panics about chemistry that they know nothing about!

James wrote ...

If your house burns down around it, the PCBs will be incinerated, no problem there. This stuff is just not THAT dangerous, the hysteria is ridiculous. Don't eat it, don't bathe in it, don't intentionally pour it out on the ground. Otherwise don't worry about it. That's a nice capacitor and it would be a shame to waste it.

It is not illegal to own, but the owner is responsible for clean up and certification costs, thats how the tyrants in Sacramento exert control, by making you pay enormous costs and and keep legal paper-crap.

and not all of it will be burn up, and any incidental secondary exposure to other citizens, like construction workers, will rasie the possibilty of civil or criminal action, maybe you win-- maybe the other guy wins, either way you pay the legal costs. (entry route through the lungs is often the worst way to be exposed to hazardous materials.) The volatized vapor from mostly burned PCB's would linger, and permeate through porus materials like wood and sheetrock.

Im just saying, we are each responsible for the chemistry we posses.

EDIT:
Q: Cowards and idiots say what?
A: Ban DiHydrogen Monoxide before its too late!

James

Wed Mar 09 2011, 12:21AM

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

LOL I remember seeing a show where they went around with a petition to ban Dihydrogen Monoxide. It was scary that they managed to get hundreds of signatures.

I cringe whenever I hear of banning something because usually it's done by those who are not very knowledgeable about it. In the early 80s many millions of dollars were spent replacing perfectly good mercury vapor streetlighting with high pressure sodium. The argument was that mercury lamps are inefficient and villainized because they contain mercury. HPS lamps are efficient according to a footcandle meter, but anyone can see that the orange light is absorbed by so much that outdoor scenes appear much darker under it, with the glare worse from the brighter appearing sources. A lot of people don't know this, but HPS lamps also contain mercury. Now LED is all the rage and HPS systems are being replaced by LED, touted to be highly efficient and last forever. LED is great for traffic lights where you want colored light, but the current generation of white LED streetlighting is about the same efficiency as the evil mercury lights that were replaced decades ago for being inefficient, and the guys I know in the industry report that reliability is still a big issue, having had a lot of premature failures. Progress indeed.

Anyway this is all getting rather off topic.

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