Mystery heater | ||
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Posted 7 years ago
SpiritBear
(813 items)
It has finely wound coils with two wires to connect to it. Found at Goodwill.
I'd love to know what this was off of and it's main use and period. I'm thinking about attaching wires to see how hot it gets.
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Are you certain that its a 'heater'? That (maybe?) 3rd electrical connection point/clamp thingie (in pic 3) underneath the coils makes me wonder if it isn't some kind of adjustable "resistor" instead...?
It could be adjusted, though you'd have to take out screws to get to it, but you'd not be able to tighten the screw that lets you adjust it, if you move it own the 'line'.
I thought heater because most older electric heaters work like this: Electrical resistance through coils of wire. Modern Quartz heaters operate similarly.
Just make sure you are outside so you don't burn the house down! haha The ultimate inquisitive testing mind!
I can't help but wonder if its an early automotive heater....if that's the case, household current would fry it.
A rheostat (resistive inductor). Possibly for use with a carbon arc light.
T A
Also called an Adjustable Dummy Load, Adjustable Test Load etc., but NOT a Heater per say. Oh it will get hot and generate heat, but not designed to be a space heater/ Advice: Do Not put power to it, as it will do you no good except to possibly hurt yourself. You need to do your curiosity research, to find who made it, and what time frame. Then, clean it up, and stick a small black light with cord and on/off switch inside, (if you wish) and use it for a conversation piece. IMO
PS: I will take a look for you, if you answer the following questions:
1.) Is it Olive Drab in color? 2.) Is the hardware SAE, or Metric? 3.) What are the Dimensions of it? 4.) If you have a VOM, what is the resistance reading across the 2 lines?
By the way, is your resistor sitting on a piece of Asbestos Board? That would make perfect sense, if we still lived in the 60's, but not so much today! If it is AB, paint it so the fibers will not be friable, and able to creep into your lungs,ie. The Meso Blues!
Huh, interesting ideas' thanks, everyone.
I'll get the requested info, but it's grey colour-- unpainted. I THINK the screws are SAE, and the item may be on asbestos bored. Height of total: About 6 inches, or 15.23 centimetres. Ditto for the length.
Width of the tubular item: 2 and one-quarter inches, or 5.7 centimetres.
Mesothelioma:........
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesothelioma
I have to agree w/ TubeAmp and lzenglish -- this thing is likely not a "heater". lzenglish's use of the term 'dummy load' reminds me of another possibility to its intended function, AFAIK devices that might be electrically similar to this were (are?) used by Ham Radio technicians to mimic the presence of an actual broadcast antenna tower somehow, when they are otherwise working on their equipment.
And DO be careful with it -- I also agree that's likely 'asbestos board' it is mounted on between it and the wood. Don't call the guys in the white HAZMAT suits just yet...its mostly inert and stable in that form, only becoming "hazardous" if you'd happen to start chewing on it, or taking a grinder to it in front of a fan while breathing heavily, or something otherwise rather unlikely. ;-) For display, a nice coat of any odd 'clear sealer' lacquer/paint/etc should fix all that for good... :-)
Anyway about it, you found a great deal on a quite interesting little bit of old "electricial ephemera" ?!! :-) :-) :-)
So I should stop chewing on it, huh? Shame. I loved the flavour of rotting bugs coated in a thick layer of dust.
I'm very familiar with Mesothelioma. My last house had asbestos insulation in the ceilings. Not sure what was in the wall beyond bad electrical and mice. You couldn't use the vacuum and microwave at the same time. 1 circuit to the breaker. Knocked it out every time. LOL. When we moved in, it had a light in the bathroom and kitchen, and that was it.
I was just curious about what it was and how it worked. At Goodwill, you can return items, but I might keep it and indeed throw a light in there as was suggested earlier.
Thanks, everyone.