piece of equipment

[slakjaw]

hahaha

[red-beard]

1920's or earlier. That is slate board I believe.

[quicksix]

"As Bob increased the voltage,the lights in the prison dimmed...."

[gassy]

That'd be a cool t shirt.

[GH85Carrera]

I am thinking that is NOT a digital controller.

[sc_rufctr]

I love anything like this...

The engineering is from a different time... Engineers assumed people had common sense so no need to cover up the bits that could hurt you.
Also... Tremendously reliable. That would never fail (within reason) and only needs minimal maintenance.

Did you know the electric motors in the elevators of the Eiffel tower are still the originals?
They have them rebuilt/rewired rather than replaced... The new motors available just don't compare to the originals for reliability.

[Scuba Steve]

What is it, and what's it from?

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Did you know the electric motors in the elevators of the Eiffel tower are still the originals?
They have them rebuilt/rewired rather than replaced... The new motors available just don't compare to the originals for reliability.

A building I worked in at GE in Schenectady, NY had DC motors in the elevators which dated from 1902. At the time, GE was still pushing DC current instead of AC.

For a long time, a lot of that plant was DC and they had rotating AC to DC converters. That DC elevator motor was HUGE! And the frame was thick and dense.

Remember, we used to build stuff with just "factors of safety" and so we over designed things to make sure they were safe. The building in question was one of the first reinforced concrete buildings in the USA (GE was big into concrete around 1900) and the safety factor was something like 100 to 1.

GE, to save money on real estate taxes, knocked down about 70-80% of the buildings in the plant. They designated one of these concrete building for demolition. It took all summer, when the rest of the building took a few days, total! The decision was made to refurbish any of these early concrete buildings instead of knocking them down, to save money...

Building 40, it will be there even after the nuclear weapons hit...

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by Scuba Steve

What is it, and what's it from?

Some sort of DC controller? I went on a tour of the Minneapolis State Theater and it was in the "antique" area… the entire building is an antique it was very cool!

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by red-beard

1920's or earlier. That is slate board I believe.

Possibly Bakelite. I worked on old crap like that when I started my job. Looks like some kind of rheostat or stepped motor control.

You would suprised how much stuff like this is still in operation.

[Zeke]

Two blade switches inside the 2 barrel fuses suggests to me that it's a 230v speed controller. If DC, wouldn't moving from one contact to the next create a huge arc?

And I'm wondering what the contraption is on the left, another switch like a relay?

[mossguy]

Originally Posted by milt

And I'm wondering what the contraption is on the left, another switch like a relay?

That looks like the voltage regulator on my old MG-TF!

Best,
Tom

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

Possibly Bakelite. I worked on old crap like that when I started my job. Looks like some kind of rheostat or stepped motor control.

You would suprised how much stuff like this is still in operation.

That is slate. The wiring is all on the back and was insulated by brushing with shellac. I worked in a place that had an old hydro generator and that was how it was wired.

[James Brown]

Lucas, prince of darkness, the early years.

[Joe Bob]

Actuator for "Old Sparkey"?