Paid on pickup
Selling a Transformer in a Flood
Units released by this situation bought across Ohio, with the removal and paperwork handled.
What we buy
What we buy here
flood with a hard date gets a crew scheduled before the paperwork is finished, because the date does not move. Sometimes the unit is fine and the site is not: a lease ends, a yard is sold, a building is coming down.
| What happens | Flood water fills the vault or the pad, and silt and water enter the tank through any open bushing or gasket. |
|---|---|
| Deadline | the site usually has to be cleared before remediation starts |
| Paperwork | an insurance report and an oil test that confirms water content |
| Buying note | A flooded transformer is a teardown inspection rather than a purchase, and the oil analysis decides it. |
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.
Situation
What flood means for a transformer
flood usually comes with a deadline somebody else set, and the pickup is planned backwards from it. The second data plate on a rebuilt unit matters more than the first, and it is easy to photograph by mistake.
The unit will outlast the building it serves, which is why so many of them change hands. A transformer that has been idle for two years may still be perfect, and the test sheet is how you find out.
The paperwork that has to be right
A utility upgrade produces the best-documented units in the state, because the utility has kept a record since installation. A load tap changer is a machine in its own right, and its maintenance record is the strongest single indicator of condition.
An estate sale produces units that are undocumented and well preserved, because nobody has touched them in years. A waste manifest names three parties, and all three have to be right before the truck moves.
How the pickup runs
The same crew that loads the unit writes the condition notes the offer is based on, which keeps the story straight. A deduction agreed before the lift is a negotiation, and a deduction after it is an argument.
A flat county with wide roads makes a heavy move routine, and that is reflected in what a buyer can pay. Overhead lines are the constraint people forget, because they are above eye level and above the trailer.
What to send us first
A seller should never feel rushed into a decision, and a buyer should never need to rush one. A desk that buys for its own account answers with a figure rather than a promise to find one.
A buyer who quotes without asking anything has quoted for a different transformer. A short list of photographs covers the cabinet, the tag, the bushings and the access, and nothing else is needed at the start.
Common questions
Other situations we handle
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
Do you buy in a flood situation?
If a unit is scrap, we will tell you it is scrap instead of dressing it up as something better. The units that come out of flood are often untouched spares, which is the best kind of find. A yard with a dozen units in it is a record of what Ohio plants have been replacing.
Service area
Who signs the paperwork in a flood?
A receiver, a trustee or a plant manager can send a list without it becoming public information. We sign the seller's paperwork when they have it and provide ours when they do not. A unit substation is convenient in service and awkward to move, because the sections are bolted together.
Payment
How fast can you move in a flood?
If the sale sits inside a confidential process, say so on the first call and the file is handled accordingly. Most units leave within a week of the number being agreed, and a unit that has to clear a site by Friday can usually be gone by Friday. A cabinet that has been opened recently has probably been looked at by somebody who knew why.