| Author | Message | ||
     Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov New User Username: soviet Post Number: 5 Registered: 2-2013 |
Here is great news for all to you who love the idea that Australia is riding on a wave of Communist money for our coal: Keep your RR/B clear of 100 kilometers of any coal mine and or railway track carting the stuff. The Camargue is safe where it is out in the wilderness and far from the nearest mine. I work on vehicles that go on the mine sites and one thing that we get is the perpetual headache of repairing open circuits in lights wiring. What happens is the coal dust contains sulphur and it just loves copper which it eats like acid. It is usual to find wiring completed dissolved which has been soldiered under heatshrink. It goes green and falls apart causing open circuit. Its probably high quality (like everything from China) porous heat shrink insulation responsible. The coal dust is not just on the mine site. Its every where up here because those kilometer plus long trains which haul the coal to the ports to ship to our Chinese friends are uncovered and also roadtrains are used at some mines to take the coal from the mine to the railway filling station. And so, along with all the problems you have with RR electrics you have to add the lovely concept that now the atmosphere is getting polluted by the coal dust which once in contact with any copper goes to work 24/7. This coal dust in also good for any mild steel panel that is not totally protected by paint. I took off a door panel on a late model Landcruiser a few years back to find most of the double panelling had simply corroded away to non existance. The outside of the door was perfect but the door inside panelling was gutted. When you see an auction that says well maintained mine vehicle for landcruisers and other forms of Japanese/Korean/Chinese crud, read TOTALLY STUFFED DISPOSABLE TRANSPORT FIT FOR ONLY WRECKING. | ||
| Brian Vogel Prolific User Username: guyslp Post Number: 259 Registered: 6-2009 |
With regard to corrosion of electrical connections, I have been won over to the idea of using electrically conductive grease (See Sanchem No-Ox-Id A-Special Electrically Conductive Grease or U.S. Source for 2-oz jar, which goes a *long* way) on every connector and wire that is exposed to the air. The stuff cuts down on simple oxidation via air/moisture changes by a huge amount. I'd imagine it would help to protect from other more corrosive materials, too. Brian | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 1218 Registered: 4-2003 |
Hi Vladimir, the problem can also be chlorides from groundwater which has come in contact with the coal during extraction, stockpiling and loading. I presume ground water is being used for dust-suppression purposes and this will invariably contain chlorides and is most likely acidic as well. This problem would be associated with both underground and aboveground mining. The presence of sulphur depends on the type of coal being mined, bituminous coking coal has the highest sulphur content and groundwater associated with bituminous coal measures will probably be an acidic mixture of chlorides and sulphates which is ideal for causing corrosion. The groundwater residues after evaporation of the water will be hygroscopic when the humidity is high meaning they will cause more aggressive corrosion than straight groundwater. Brian, Dow Corning also make this type of product, Dow Corning 4 Electrical Insulating Compound: http://www.dowcorning.com/content/news/molykote_news_4_Compound.asp David - who spent many shifts underground in the coal mines of the NSW Illawarra region and doesn't have to be asked twice to go down a mine. | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov New User Username: soviet Post Number: 6 Registered: 2-2013 |
David you may be right about the corrosion being caused by chlorides/ground water. I only blamed sulphur because thats what I was told by past employers. I assumed it was coal dust because some of the water trucks I work on are very high and on top any wiring even if it has a tiny pin hole put there by a sparky looking for a live wire will go green and rot the wire completely through. In over 40 years of mechanical work I have never seen such corrosion on wiring. Not in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, New York, Samara Russia, Charleston South Carolina, Toowoomba, Dalby, Emerald - only found this evil phenomenon in Moranbah, Glenden and Collinsville all of which are coal mining towns. In Collinsville we have water trucks which go around town watering the bitumen. Coal dust is everywhere and that is not surprising when you see the long trains hauling the stuff uncovered to the coast for shipment. Brian and yourself mentioned a product we used at one place but apart from the light globes that are easy to get at there are many other pieces of copper on a RR/B along with other cars that are open to the atmosphere. Probably partial paranoia on my part but I put coal mining companies in the same basket as politicians and government departments ie Never to be trusted upon their record of past behaviour. | ||
| Brian Vogel Prolific User Username: guyslp Post Number: 260 Registered: 6-2009 |
Vladimir, I grew up in Pennsylvania coal and steel country (when such a thing still existed - it disappeared in the late 1970s & early 1980s) and live not all that far from the coal mining areas of West Virginia now. Coal trains run through Staunton, VA, where I live on a daily basis (though they're so far from the source that pretty much all the loose dust is long gone before they come through here). That being said, I couldn't agree with you more with regard to trust issues with coal companies, in particular, and energy companies more broadly. A more venal "legitimate" business arena is difficult to imagine. Brian, who has already seen what the "miracle of fracking" has wrought in parts of PA and who lived with dead rivers orange with acid mine drainage for my entire early life P.S. to David Gore: That Dow product is very similar to dielectric grease. I used to use this almost exclusively, but now prefer the idea of a grease that actually conducts electricity rather than insulates. Mind you, much of this is application dependent, but on electrical connections I prefer conductive grease. I insulate using stuff such as heat-shrink tubing, electrical tape, etc., atop the connection when necessary. | ||
| Randy Roberson Prolific User Username: wascator Post Number: 110 Registered: 5-2009 |
One might be interested in a spray product named "Boeshield", reputed to have been originally developed by Boeing for corrosion protection and lubrication of various aircraft-related items. I have a can and it seems to be an oily translucent waxy product. Also, for those interested in anticorrosion treatments for automobile bodies and the like, I found in Germany what is reputed to be the Final Word: www.mike-sander.de. It is described as a grease rather than a wax; it is heated to 250F and sprayed/injected, like cavity wax, but it is said to be superior in long-term performance. There are some test reports referenced but I don't read much German so I only read what I could find in English. I hope this helps. Randy, who has lived in oil country lifelong and is employed by a large energy company, with no ill effects from either. |
