ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Old British switches

sanUK,
Just a small question about pic No.6 with the Pyrotenax cable.
Shouldn't there be a sealing gland on the end of that cable?.

looks as though it could be a flameproof gland by look of the thread length, what was the installation?

The gland was filled with bitumen yes BITUMEN when i removed it, i stripped the gland down later after removing the old pyro.
The cable was a sub main supplying a farm outbuilding, and looked to be the original wiring, at a guess 1950`s (ish).

Received by e-mail from somebody identified only as "gippeswyc":






Thanks to gippeswyc for taking the trouble to send me these photos. It's amazing the treasures that can lie hidden away for decades.

We're getting more switches for the collection. The following comes from John at Cumbriapower:










Thanks for those John. I don't recall ever seeing this brand before.

Thanks Paul. I have come across them a couple of times before which makes me wonder whether they might be of a local origin...? I'll try an do a little research if I can, and find out more about them.

Sorry about the focus in the last pic - I haven't got the hang of the macro function on the camera yet !

Seem to remember very similar if not identical switches were used in council houses in East Kilbride, I'm talking over 30 years ago when I was a kid so don't take it as gospel.

Simon.

Ah well Simon, this came from a house in the Lake District I can't find any info about the manufacturer at all sadly.

Anyone want to add this thing to their collection/s? First to post can have it - or I'll be binning it!!!

Hi fellas. I see this thread is quite cold. I'm just a regular dude with no electrical experience whatsoever. I was in Australia recently and bought a lovely old unbranded switch that resembles a Vitreous or Crabtree.

I was flipping it on and off but the prongs were too tight and little ceramic bit that keeps you from getting electrocuted broke.

[img]https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxKo5yPjAYwRTm0yS0RKc2ZkOGM/view[/img]

I was very sad. This switch only cost me about $8. For a brief moment, I considered throwing it away. I think that's what most people would have done. But then I began thinking of how I could salvage it. After lots of bad ideas, I decided that the best thing would be to go to pottery class and mold a new piece out clay and fire it. I made about ten duplicates, assuming that they would break or would not fit right for one reason or another.

[img]https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxKo5yPjAYwRYVNHQ3IxX2hXMWM/view?usp=sharing[/img]

Well, the first one fit and worked great.

[img]https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxKo5yPjAYwRQXVwcXhqVy1fUU0/view?usp=sharing[/img]

...and after all this work, and after installing it...

[img]https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxKo5yPjAYwRSjQwTlRRVmw4Z1k/view?usp=sharing[/img]

only NOW does it occur to me - is this thing even SAFE to use? I think it only has a 5amp capacity. A person at the hardware store helped me calculate that with a 60 watt lightbulb it would only create a .6 amp load. Does that sound right?

Thanks and looking forward to your replies. Hopefully my flat won't burn down in the meantime.

Cheers,
~M.

For the power calculation: 60W / 120V = 0.5A

Anyway, I don't really expect it to set anything on fire, with the ceramic base, but I doubt such a switch would qualify as "double-insulated" so if nothing else, I would have a GFI on the circuit.