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#152214 10/28/06 10:01 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 59
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Thanx Randy.

I once asked a guy in the electrical retail about why the t slot were made....he said it was for 240 volts as that's what the tandem blade plugs were for....but he also said it was very easy to plug in the wrong item unless you were the one that wired it up....

Me I'm still trying to learn about the past..... [Linked Image]

#152215 11/03/06 12:59 AM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 288
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Member
It would be worth mentioning that the old fusebox shown in Randy's other thread was designed for 120V two-wire service. Although rated for 250V, I'm sure these devices, in their long life, never saw any higher voltage than 125 (and probably never more than 110 when all the appliances were running at once).

What amazes me, Randy, is that you found so many antiques in one house. How many square feet was it? I remember working on a house about the same age that was about 6000 sf, and most of the devices in it were modern ('50s or later), albeit many of them wrongly applied (e.g. 5-15 with no ground). I do still have a few curiosities from there. Much of the wiring could be called K&T, except with no porcelain anywhere. It was all stapled, and lead-covered conductors. We were there to repair fire damage on the third floor, but the inspector made us meg the K&T circuits. They all failed, of course, so we re-wired everything.

#152216 11/03/06 01:42 AM
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,438
Member
Mike,
If I recall correctly, that old house seemed to have had electricity added into it in pieces at a time. All but 2 switches in the house were the pushbutton ones. The 4 slot outlets were in kinda odd places, except the duplex one was in a bedroom behind a door. (one of em was in the ceiling in the hallway [Linked Image] ) The surface mount P&S was in the living room area loaded with a bigscreen and all kinds of other electronics. The Hubbell T-slot/crows foot combo was in the garage (with a lone piece of wire on the "ground" terminal tied to a water pipe @ the hot water heater). The 2 nema 1-15's in the center of the 1st pic were the same manufacturer as the panel (Diamond S).

The house wasn't really that big.. 2 bedroom, one bath, ratty old 1 car garage. It was maybe 1200 sq ft at the most. The lady who called us told me her grandparents bought the house in the 20's, and her grandpa might've added a few things here and there. As far as I could tell, the K&T there appeared all original except were it looked like it was continued on to the rear bedroom for some reason.

Also worth noting, I've found the Perkins pushbutton switches in an old HUGE house in Los Angeles (built 1903), and a house in "old towne" Orange (built 1898) also... Perkins might have been a popular turn of the century brand out here in So Cal [Linked Image]

#152217 11/15/06 09:35 PM
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 176
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Member
I have one of those 4 prong duplexes in my room. I like it because even though it is mounted sideways in the baseboard, the prongs are vertical (personal preference). It was supplied with K&T, and hardly ever used. I unscrewed it (Yes, it had screws! but no brand name. It's ceramic, though, which leads me to believe it's really old.) and cleaned it up a bit. It holds onto plugs really well, and I use it for a lamp and clock radio. I have lots of antique (or antique looking) fixtures in my bedrooms and my enrty hall.

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