Mystery Item thread.... What am i?

[Darkwood]

This is out of an old Russian lathe it has 4 contacts on it 2 x NC and 2 x NO it has a coil and on top it has a sealed oil filled reservoir.
What is its function!

Spoiler alert!!! Answer in post 9!!!

 

[Knobhead]

DW, ever come across Square D pneumatic timers? Depending how you put them together they were either delay on or delay off.

 

[Darkwood]

DW, ever come across Square D pneumatic timers? Depending how you put them together they were either delay on or delay off.

I may have browsed passed one without really clocking it but cant say ive ever interfered with one in my time.... majority of the machines i work on don't really have any call for delay on or off as i write it into plc software- the delay off timer in my original wasn't too easy to match as it had no/nc contacts on the delay side as well as no/nc instant.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Crikey I hope you don't want me to change all the selenium recs here Tony, there's hundreds of the little critters. The ones in the speed controller don't really handle enough power to go up in smoke, only the magamp output, probably just bring the machine to a halt. I don't allow seleniums to be used in situations where there's much likelihood of exposure to the fumes, I agree it's a sensible precaution. Only ever seen one big one go up, on a cinema arc supply, moisture had got into the rec and it failed at power-on.

So, next bit of oddball tat for your perusal, (I could keep this thread going for years). Its name was a trademark.

Lucien

 

[Knobhead]

Crabtree

 

[Darkwood]

Bakelite was a trade name i assume it aint as simple as that?

Arrrr!- Crabtree/Bakelite but heads up was from Tony.

 

[Knobhead]

Germanium or selenium. Both look the same, both deadly if they burn out. Replace them with a silicon and you need a dropper resistor.

Lucian, I applaud you. Remember there’s a lot of bod’s that haven’t a clue what we are on with.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Sorry Tony, not Crabtree. Clue: motors.

 

[Marvo]

Is it a manual 2-pole start switch for a single phase motor? When pressed down both poles operate which powers start and run windings, when released one pole disconnects leaving the run winding powered.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

It sure is Marvo, called the 'Twinob' made by Lundberg/Lektrik. The outer dolly is a momentary spring-loaded type for starting and the inner one an ordinary tumbler switch for running. Got a little 5A version as well with bakelite dollies where one overlaps the other.

Dang, too many experts, puzzles solved too easily, must find odder things...

 

[Darkwood]

OPen your wife's purse if its anything like our lasses there's thing in there no man can recognise!

 

[Marvo]

Very nice, I've seen similar switches before still in operation in an old workshop. The mechanical interlock is pure simplicity and in those days the motors were so over-engineered it made no difference if some idiot apprentice hung his jacket on it or manually held the thing down for too long. The motors today wouldn't last ten minutes with that type of system.

 

[SPARTYKUS]

It sure is Marvo, called the 'Twinob' made by Lundberg/Lektrik. The outer dolly is a momentary spring-loaded type for starting and the inner one an ordinary tumbler switch for running. Got a little 5A version as well with bakelite dollies where one overlaps the other.

Dang, too many experts, puzzles solved too easily, must find odder things...
View attachment 20061

Nice, nice old stuff...

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Here's another one for ya - proper vintage electrical gear - made in 1932 and still going strong. I was working on this earlier today, in a major London venue. Only part of it in the picture, perhaps you can figure out what connects to it top and bottom? When you've cracked it I'll upload a video.

Lucien

 

[Darkwood]

Is it some kind of measurement device?

 

[Lucien Nunes]

No, you can't measure anything with it, although this part is a kind of sensor that detects something changing.