ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Photos for General Discussion 1920s Fuse Box

Randy: Man, that's an old-timer! Is this box mounted about halfway flush in the wall? The only wire I see is that piece of flex.

What's that thing in the bottom right corner of the branch side? It looks kinda like an old doorbell transformer.

Mike (mamills)

Randy, I wanna go work for you, just so I can get my hands on some of that old stuff. Are you hiring assistants/potential apprentices?

Too bad the socket got shattered. Yeah, the outlet box does seem almost flush to the wall.

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 05-10-2004).]

Mike,
The fuse panel can does protrude from the wall about 2-3".. The house wiring entered the fuse box from inside the wall... according to the home owner, some "unqualified person" added the flex to bring 220V to a bedroom for a window A/C unit.. No strapping on the flex, no ground wire, undersized conductors, flex connector not tightened to the fuse box That is, in fact, the doorbell Xfmr in the bottom right of the fuse box, still working! Looking at the pic with the flex.. The small panel below the fuse box contained a "120V-24V 70W" xfmr for the old furnace!

Sven,
I'd think you'd come across more antiquated electrical parts on your side of the country... I came across alot of funky things I'd never seen before when I lived on Long Island. If you feel like moving to Cali, look me up! I do know a few people that are hiring apprentices. Unfortunately, the company I work for only hires Journeyman, as we're pretty much on our own with what we come across & how we handle it..
If I get the rewire, there's all kinds of cool things in this house that are going into my collection that ARENT broken The outlet with the face plate is the same brand as the fuse box (Diamond S) the other one is a prehistoric Leviton..

-Randy

Randy,

Good fortune in securing the Diamond-S service center.

Compared to the 30 Amp 120/240 Volt services I commonly see up in Minnesota, this one is a Cadillac. I've never seen the service disconnect in its own compartment under its own door.

I particularly like the fuse block that was added to the panel to provide two additional branch circuits. The top two photos show it with its two green 30 Amp TL type fuses. The fuse block was fed by double lugging off of the main terminals at the top of the factory (Diamond-S) fuse blocks with the 20 Amp fuses.

It was so easy to wire around the meter back then, yet you seldom heard of it happening. Boy, times have changed.

Randy,
You run across the neatest old stuff

On that outlet with the cover I'll bet that's a 6/32 from a device. Somebody's idea of helping by replacing a lost screw with one that fits, .... or seems to until it breaks the outlet because it's too long.

Grrrr.....

ElectricAL,
I've come across the dual sections quite a few times out here, unfortunately, its usually aready rendered into a splice can with a $@#%(@ Zinsco feeding into someplace The other mfr I've seen put these out is "Diamond E"? (whats stamped into the cover, usually the label's gone)
According to the label, Diamond S was in Los Angeles on 16th & Central, which would be less than 10 miles from where I came across this (Alhambra)..
My favorite part is the label asking for "criticizms or suggestions" & "if its our fault, we'll make it right"... Imagine Federal Pacific or Zinsco living up to that??
The secondary fuse blocks with the 30's actually DID have #10's on them, they ended up in the garage to a fused disconnect (with 20A fuses) & went on to some outlets..
Gene.. The poco really trusts this homeowner! They don't even come into the house anymore... Remote read meter is there!

Scott, help me rewire this house! We'll split the goods!

Bill, that was actually a short metal screw that wasn't even threading in holding the face plate on... No damage to the back of the recept... Not that it makes up for the ½ missing front! I have a couple more of the Diamond S outlets in better shape though

-Randy