If you start feeling weird, develop cancer, or grow any extra
protuberances -- it could have been pcb.


" hillbilly3302" wrote in message
news:1066854521.103078@`ache3...
I have an old Heathkit Cantenna dummy load. how can I tell what its
filled
with, Transformer oil (pcb's) or Mineral oil... sounds silly but it
just
started leaking and I have oil all over the work bench... I went to a
paint
store and got another gallon can and that took care of the leak. hi , but
it was about half empty.

k5drc

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 15:23:01 -0500, " hillbilly3302"
wrote:

I have an old Heathkit Cantenna dummy load. how can I tell what its filled
with, Transformer oil (pcb's) or Mineral oil... sounds silly but it just
started leaking and I have oil all over the work bench... I went to a paint
store and got another gallon can and that took care of the leak. hi , but
it was about half empty.

k5drc

The old common PCB oil for dummy loads had strong floral smell, like
rotten roses or something. Once on you it was like you had been
sprayed by a skunk. I've had it all over me and it seems to have done
no harm unless this itching on my third arm is because of it.

On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 15:23:01 -0500, " hillbilly3302"
wrote:

I have an old Heathkit Cantenna dummy load. how can I tell what its filled
with, Transformer oil (pcb's) or Mineral oil... sounds silly but it just
started leaking and I have oil all over the work bench... I went to a paint
store and got another gallon can and that took care of the leak. hi , but
it was about half empty.

k5drc

The old common PCB oil for dummy loads had strong floral smell, like
rotten roses or something. Once on you it was like you had been
sprayed by a skunk. I've had it all over me and it seems to have done
no harm unless this itching on my third arm is because of it.

Gregg wrote:

Having the misfortune of owning several leaky PCB filled capacitors, PCB
smells almost "mediciney-old-radio" thing.

Having the good fortune to have used/refilled/made several Cantenna's, I
have yet to come across one filled with PCB. A friend did put me on to
Shell Turbine Oil for them as much better than mineral oil ;-)

--
Gregg
*It's probably useful, even if it can't be SPICE'd*
http://geek.scorpiorising.ca

Here in Nebraska, the best source for the turbine oil is any of the farm
supply places, such as Tractor Supply Company, you usually find on the
outskirts of town.

Wayne, KEØBZ



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Gregg wrote:

Having the misfortune of owning several leaky PCB filled capacitors, PCB
smells almost "mediciney-old-radio" thing.

Having the good fortune to have used/refilled/made several Cantenna's, I
have yet to come across one filled with PCB. A friend did put me on to
Shell Turbine Oil for them as much better than mineral oil ;-)

--
Gregg
*It's probably useful, even if it can't be SPICE'd*
http://geek.scorpiorising.ca

Here in Nebraska, the best source for the turbine oil is any of the farm
supply places, such as Tractor Supply Company, you usually find on the
outskirts of town.

Wayne, KEØBZ



-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

" hillbilly3302" wrote in message
news:1066854521.103078@`ache3...
I have an old Heathkit Cantenna dummy load. how can I tell what its
filled
with, Transformer oil (pcb's) or Mineral oil... sounds silly but it
just
started leaking and I have oil all over the work bench... I went to a
paint
store and got another gallon can and that took care of the leak. hi , but
it was about half empty.

k5drc




The oil could be most anything, since the Cantenna was shipped dry, and the
buyer was instructed to fill it with mineral oil. What the PO really poured
in there is the real question. Since most consumers didn't have access to a
gallon of PCB (Monsanto's Arachlor), it likely isn't a PCB. But who knows?
One easy test is that a PCB won't burn, where engine oil or mineral oil
will. Wet a small piece of paper towel with the unknown oil, and try to
light it (away from the main body of oil!). If it won't burn, then its PCB.

Imagine the repercussions of knowing you had leaked a half-gallon of PCB in
your home. You have now created an official toxic spill, a hazardous site
which now must be properly decontaminated. If you think asbestos remediation
is bad news, just wait till the hazmat guys are into your PCB zone.
Remember, those PCB's love water, and they don't break down (short of oxygen
incineration), so you have a lot more than just a workbench that has to go.
You have got that stuff all over your hands, and your clothes. Where did you
wash your hands? Oops, now your bathroom is also contaminated. So's the rest
of your house. How did you wash your clothes? Looks like you'll be needing a
new washer / dryer. And where did that PCB contaminated laundry water go to?
Probably have to dig up your sewer pipes and haul them off too! Not to
mention that you have now contaminated your entire municipal sewerage
system! Get ready for some interesting fines and new legal exposure.

Did you shake hands with anybody lately? You've been spreading trace amounts
of PCB's everywhere. And what is the maximum allowable "safe" level of PCB
contamination? Parts per million? Parts per billion? You'll wish you were
dead. But even so, since PCB's also love fatty acids (they just love to hide
in the fat cells of your body), your carcass is also contaminated. You're a
walking toxic waste dump. You probably meet the criteria for needing an MSDS
just to drive to work. (Did I mention that you also have contaminated your
workplace?) So even an embalmer wouldn't want to touch you, and what
cemetery would accept an officially contaminated corpse?

Nope, looks like cremation is indicated. And I'll bet there's a wild
"Catch-22" waiting for you. I'll bet that a human crematory won't accept a
"toxic waste" contaminated corpse, and a toxic waste incinerator isn't
licensed to accept a human corpse. Gotcha! Maybe a Viking funeral?

Yep, them PCB's are officially nasty little chemicals. Just ask Dow
Chemical, who's still paying to dig up Hudson River mud and move it to
somewhere else that isn't the Hudson River (and that "somewhere else" is
another story).

Ed

" hillbilly3302" wrote in message
news:1066854521.103078@`ache3...
I have an old Heathkit Cantenna dummy load. how can I tell what its
filled
with, Transformer oil (pcb's) or Mineral oil... sounds silly but it
just
started leaking and I have oil all over the work bench... I went to a
paint
store and got another gallon can and that took care of the leak. hi , but
it was about half empty.

k5drc




The oil could be most anything, since the Cantenna was shipped dry, and the
buyer was instructed to fill it with mineral oil. What the PO really poured
in there is the real question. Since most consumers didn't have access to a
gallon of PCB (Monsanto's Arachlor), it likely isn't a PCB. But who knows?
One easy test is that a PCB won't burn, where engine oil or mineral oil
will. Wet a small piece of paper towel with the unknown oil, and try to
light it (away from the main body of oil!). If it won't burn, then its PCB.

Imagine the repercussions of knowing you had leaked a half-gallon of PCB in
your home. You have now created an official toxic spill, a hazardous site
which now must be properly decontaminated. If you think asbestos remediation
is bad news, just wait till the hazmat guys are into your PCB zone.
Remember, those PCB's love water, and they don't break down (short of oxygen
incineration), so you have a lot more than just a workbench that has to go.
You have got that stuff all over your hands, and your clothes. Where did you
wash your hands? Oops, now your bathroom is also contaminated. So's the rest
of your house. How did you wash your clothes? Looks like you'll be needing a
new washer / dryer. And where did that PCB contaminated laundry water go to?
Probably have to dig up your sewer pipes and haul them off too! Not to
mention that you have now contaminated your entire municipal sewerage
system! Get ready for some interesting fines and new legal exposure.

Did you shake hands with anybody lately? You've been spreading trace amounts
of PCB's everywhere. And what is the maximum allowable "safe" level of PCB
contamination? Parts per million? Parts per billion? You'll wish you were
dead. But even so, since PCB's also love fatty acids (they just love to hide
in the fat cells of your body), your carcass is also contaminated. You're a
walking toxic waste dump. You probably meet the criteria for needing an MSDS
just to drive to work. (Did I mention that you also have contaminated your
workplace?) So even an embalmer wouldn't want to touch you, and what
cemetery would accept an officially contaminated corpse?

Nope, looks like cremation is indicated. And I'll bet there's a wild
"Catch-22" waiting for you. I'll bet that a human crematory won't accept a
"toxic waste" contaminated corpse, and a toxic waste incinerator isn't
licensed to accept a human corpse. Gotcha! Maybe a Viking funeral?

Yep, them PCB's are officially nasty little chemicals. Just ask Dow
Chemical, who's still paying to dig up Hudson River mud and move it to
somewhere else that isn't the Hudson River (and that "somewhere else" is
another story).

Ed

Around 1957 I went to the Southern California Edison yard in the industrial area
of Santa Barbara.

In the office I paid a couple a dollar or so for a gallon of transformer oil and
took my gallon can and followed one of the men outside to a 55 gallon drum. The
whole area was oily, dirty and looked like it'd been used for years. Some areas
of the ground looked as though they'd been paved with oil. We opened the valve
on the can and filled the can. Then we both wiped the spills and splashes on
our hands and the drips on the can off using a very oily rag.

When I got back to my 1947 Chevy I put it on an old rag in the trunk of the car
in a cardboard box so it wouldn't tip over. I wiped my oily shoes on the dirt
at the edge of the road so I wouldn't get too much oil on the rubber floor mats.

When I got home I poured the oil into the Heathkit Cantenna can and had some
left over. A few years later I poured out the remnants from the can onto the
ground in the area where our oil drain pans were inverted to get the gunk out of
them and threw the can in the garbage.

In following years I put the dummy load on the floor under the operating desk in
a pie tin to keep any seepage from getting on the carpet and floor. I wiped it
off several times over the years with paper towels.

Since all my fingers have fallen off - I'm typing with my toes - and now need to
wear glasses and my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be.

Do you think this is a result of coming in contact with PCB?



Ed Price wrote:

" hillbilly3302" wrote in message
news:1066854521.103078@`ache3...
I have an old Heathkit Cantenna dummy load. how can I tell what its
filled
with, Transformer oil (pcb's) or Mineral oil... sounds silly but it
just
started leaking and I have oil all over the work bench... I went to a
paint
store and got another gallon can and that took care of the leak. hi , but
it was about half empty.

k5drc

Around 1957 I went to the Southern California Edison yard in the industrial area
of Santa Barbara.

In the office I paid a couple a dollar or so for a gallon of transformer oil and
took my gallon can and followed one of the men outside to a 55 gallon drum. The
whole area was oily, dirty and looked like it'd been used for years. Some areas
of the ground looked as though they'd been paved with oil. We opened the valve
on the can and filled the can. Then we both wiped the spills and splashes on
our hands and the drips on the can off using a very oily rag.

When I got back to my 1947 Chevy I put it on an old rag in the trunk of the car
in a cardboard box so it wouldn't tip over. I wiped my oily shoes on the dirt
at the edge of the road so I wouldn't get too much oil on the rubber floor mats.

When I got home I poured the oil into the Heathkit Cantenna can and had some
left over. A few years later I poured out the remnants from the can onto the
ground in the area where our oil drain pans were inverted to get the gunk out of
them and threw the can in the garbage.

In following years I put the dummy load on the floor under the operating desk in
a pie tin to keep any seepage from getting on the carpet and floor. I wiped it
off several times over the years with paper towels.

Since all my fingers have fallen off - I'm typing with my toes - and now need to
wear glasses and my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be.

Do you think this is a result of coming in contact with PCB?



Ed Price wrote:

" hillbilly3302" wrote in message
news:1066854521.103078@`ache3...
I have an old Heathkit Cantenna dummy load. how can I tell what its
filled
with, Transformer oil (pcb's) or Mineral oil... sounds silly but it
just
started leaking and I have oil all over the work bench... I went to a
paint
store and got another gallon can and that took care of the leak. hi , but
it was about half empty.

k5drc

This has been discussed many many times before.

To see hundreds of replies -- go to URL: http://groups.google.com/

Type in Cantenna

Get over 1000 posts !!!

--
73 From The KeyBoard In The Wilderness
==========================
"ham" wrote in message
...
Around 1957 I went to the Southern California Edison yard in the
industrial area
of Santa Barbara.

In the office I paid a couple a dollar or so for a gallon of transformer
oil and
took my gallon can and followed one of the men outside to a 55 gallon
drum. The
whole area was oily, dirty and looked like it'd been used for years. Some
areas
of the ground looked as though they'd been paved with oil. We opened the
valve
on the can and filled the can. Then we both wiped the spills and splashes
on
our hands and the drips on the can off using a very oily rag.

When I got back to my 1947 Chevy I put it on an old rag in the trunk of
the car
in a cardboard box so it wouldn't tip over. I wiped my oily shoes on the
dirt
at the edge of the road so I wouldn't get too much oil on the rubber floor
mats.

When I got home I poured the oil into the Heathkit Cantenna can and had
some
left over. A few years later I poured out the remnants from the can onto
the
ground in the area where our oil drain pans were inverted to get the gunk
out of
them and threw the can in the garbage.

In following years I put the dummy load on the floor under the operating
desk in
a pie tin to keep any seepage from getting on the carpet and floor. I
wiped it
off several times over the years with paper towels.

Since all my fingers have fallen off - I'm typing with my toes - and now
need to
wear glasses and my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be.

Do you think this is a result of coming in contact with PCB?



Ed Price wrote:

" hillbilly3302" wrote in message
news:1066854521.103078@`ache3...
I have an old Heathkit Cantenna dummy load. how can I tell what its
filled
with, Transformer oil (pcb's) or Mineral oil... sounds silly but it
just
started leaking and I have oil all over the work bench... I went to a
paint
store and got another gallon can and that took care of the leak. hi ,
but
it was about half empty.

k5drc