Cash on collection
Cooling Classes: OA, FA and FOA Explained
A working guide for Ohio sellers: what decides the number and how the unit leaves.
What we buy
What we buy here
What follows is the working version of Cooling Classes: OA, FA and FOA Explained used on Ohio sites rather than the textbook version. A substation unit is a project rather than a purchase, and it should be planned like one. A substation-class unit sits between what a plant can maintain and what a utility would own, which is why it changes hands.
Work from the outside in and write down what you see, because a written record is worth more than a memory. A decommissioning is orderly, which makes it the easiest kind of large project to buy from. A seller should keep the photographs after the sale, because the next buyer will ask for the same ones.
Who we buy from
Six kinds of seller, one desk
- Recyclers
- Electrical contractors
- Equipment dealers
- End users
- Demo contractors
- Distributors
Fast offers
A nameplate photo is usually enough to price a unit the same day.
Dedicated logistics
We arrange the crane, the permits and the flatbed, not you.
No broker fees
You are dealing with the buyer, so nothing is shaved off the offer.
How it works
Six steps from your yard to the money
- 01
Take pictures
The nameplate, the cabinet interior and the tank in daylight. Three photographs are usually enough to place a unit in the right class and the right price band.
- 02
Send them to us
The form on this page, a text or an email all reach the same desk. Include the city, the access and any deadline the site is working to.
- 03
Review the offer
A buyer reads the photographs, asks one or two questions and sends a written offer with the assumptions stated, so nothing changes on the day.
- 04
We schedule freight
Crane, flatbed and permits are booked around your access. You get a date and a window, and we carry the cost of getting it right.
- 05
Testing on arrival
Winding resistance, megger and turns ratio, plus oil analysis where the unit is liquid filled. The results decide the final number, and you see them.
- 06
Get paid
Payment is released on the agreed terms once the unit is received and tested, by check or ACH. No retention, no sixty-day terms.
What we handle for you
The parts sellers dread, done for you
Rigging
Crane and forklift arranged around your access, not the other way round.
Oil containment
Bunds, absorbent and disposal handled before the unit moves.
Bill of sale
A clean title document for your records, signed on collection.
PCB paperwork
Pre-1979 units get the testing and the manifest they need.
Guide
The letters
OA means oil to air with natural circulation, which is the simplest and most reliable arrangement. FA means forced air, with fans pushing air across the radiators to raise the rating. FOA adds forced oil circulation with pumps, which is how the largest units reach their top ratings.
A transformer with its original documentation is easier to insure, easier to resell and easier to explain. A site manager who has already cleared the pad has done most of the work that matters.
The dual ratings
A tag reading 10/12.5 MVA OA/FA means the unit carries 10 MVA without fans and 12.5 with them running. The second figure depends entirely on the fans, so a unit with failed fans is a 10 MVA unit. Some units carry three ratings, which tells you the cooling stages rather than the transformer's quality.
A buyer who explains the reasoning gets a second call, and the second call is where the good units are. The industry runs on relationships, but the first one starts with a nameplate photograph.
What fails
Fans and their controls fail first, usually because nobody notices until a hot day. Pumps on FOA units need maintenance that plants often defer, and a failed pump can take a unit out of service. Radiator fins crushed in transit reduce capacity permanently, and the nameplate does not change to reflect it.
The order of work is always the same: look, measure, test, agree, lift, pay. Remanufacturing keeps the footprint, and the footprint is often the reason the unit cannot simply be replaced.
At purchase
Checklist for cooling classes: oa, fa and foa explained
Questions about cooling classes: oa, fa and foa explained
Related guides
Get started
Get an offer in minutes
Five fields and a phone number is all we need to start. We reply the same business day, and a firm number follows the nameplate photo.
(614) 715-3047or send the form and we will call you.
Questions
What sellers ask before they call
Equipment types
Does cooling classes: oa, fa and foa explained change what a transformer is worth?
Fans and their controls fail first, usually because nobody notices until a hot day. Radiator fins crushed in transit reduce capacity permanently, and the nameplate does not change to reflect it.
Service area
Where does a seller start with cooling classes: oa, fa and foa explained?
FA means forced air, with fans pushing air across the radiators to raise the rating. A hot mechanical room quietly derates everything in it, and nobody notices until a unit fails early.
Payment
Is cooling classes: oa, fa and foa explained part of what a buyer checks on site?
Check that the fans run, the radiator valves are open and the fins are straight before accepting a forced-cooled rating. A unit sold at its FA rating with dead fans is being sold at the wrong number.
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