Posted By mor raphael We have a number of sealed capacitors that need to be tested to find out if they contain PCB'S. I've been advised that the test would necessitate destructive testing as once the seals were broken they cannot be resealed. I've read up on the Regulations, EA and HSE websites for some further guidance but its not clear of what our requirements would be in this case. What I want to know is do we have to purposely destroy the equipment to test it or can we enter it onto the annual register as a potential to contain PCB'S until its natural end of life? The alternative would result in a replacement programme costing 200k plus.

Posted By mor raphael Thats the question I'm asking but I'm not getting very far. It seems madness to destroy a perfectly good piece of kit. I've come into this programme mid way so want to minimise any cost implications if possible.

Posted By Bob Youel 1 point: Most people do not know that you are supposed to have a PCB oil register as per an asbestos register! I advise that PCB's are looked at but use common sense as most such kit has probably long since been disposed of [in the ordinary bin no doubt!] I advise that in all cases presume that PCB's are present in all such kit provided before the ban date and manage etc accordingly especially on disposal and when managing electrical works especially if non electricians/*younger electricians are used [*This in not an ageist thing; its that on enquiring no younger electricians appear to have such training anymore] Opening one up and testing it is very expensive, time consuming etc activity and will not positively tell you what is in the other capacitors anyway

Posted By John Donaldson I went through an exercise of identifying which capacitors contained PCB when the regulations first came out. I found the suppliers very helpful and some even had records for companies that they had taken over or had gone out of business. Some of the capacitors we had in research Lasers were any years old but fortunately they did not contain PCB’s As an aside There is an interesting dispensation in the regulations that still allows the use of PCB’s for research purposes. It was a dispensation I asked for as without it research into the impact of PCB’s could not be carried out as the instruments used to detect PCB’s needed to be calibrated. The original draft regulations had just not recognised the need to continue research involving PCB’s