In the case of the Heath "Cantenna" and similar type loads, the top surface of the oil must be above the top of the aluminum tube housing the resistor. If it isn't the oil's circulation upward through the tube and past the resistor will be severely limited.
The heating and cooling through use -will- cause the can the "breathe" air out and in via the spring loaded vent. This will eventually result in droplets of water collecting in the bottom of the can and will eventually rust a hole and the can will leak. These water droplets can be sucked up with a kitchen baster and Tygon tubing. Replacement gallon cans can usually be obtained from a paint store. It's still a good idea to set the load in a plastic bucket. (:-) As a retired power company employee I'll offer the following about the dangers of PCB-based "transformer oil" from my employer's transformer maintenance folks. It's been many decades since there was PCB-based oil commonly in use and the likely hood of someone coming into the possession of PCB contaminated oil is mostly an urban legend. I've seen men standing chest-deep in oil inside a large substation transformer while doing repair or changing a tap. 73! Ken - K0PP ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com