anybody know any specifics of the oil used in transformers?i emptied 3 transformers the other day into plastic barrels,and was wondering if it could be used as black fuel.the oil is really clean looking and a honey color to it,appears pretty light weight also......any ideas on it??...............bama

 

If you dont know the history of that oil be very careful! Some of the older stuff contains PCBs which are a nasty carcinagin. They acumulate in your body and stay there forever, much like asbestos. Besides this problem alot of oils used in electrical applications are synthetic.

 

That is true... One of my clients is the local power company fleet and the drivers had to take a Hazmat course >> that was one of the topics > the toxic properties of transformer oil.
Oilguy

 

I know when it gets up in the higher temperature ranges, it actually starts to break down and makes acetylene. We had one big 500 Kv transformer that had to be changed out for that reason. It was getting hot enought from insulation break down that it was actually producing the gas and had to be watched very carefully. I personally would not even think about it.

 

that would just make the exhaust much more harmful.

 

With enough "Turbo", you could weld all the exhaust junctions from down pipe to tip while driving down the road........

 

My local power company runs the oil though a special filter/cleaning machine before they can dispose of it.
Most modern transformer oil is synthetic, by all reports I've read syn oil doesn't run well in a diesel.