I stumbled on this site while searching for something else and thought it was a really neat way to display old meters. http://www.classicmeters.com/thumbs.html
Heres the Main site..http://www.classicmeters.com/index.html

[This message has been edited by txsparky (edited 07-05-2003).]

Very Nice!
Operating Meters too.




Bill

We built meter lamps for the guy's going out with all the time spent in wood crafts, tin shop and electric shop I would guess it cost a grand to build these lamps. I notice the price on these lamps would be a better deal.

That could be almost as shocking as sitting and watching this

ThinkGood,
My God that is a long string of numbers, it looks more like an International Telephone number, than an actual amount of money.

guys want check out another site? check out watthourmeters.com.he has the history of the electric meter.also i'm a collector of these oldies.

I must say, I like the shape of the meters used in the US.
I see them on houses in the US, on TV (and here!!) and they readily identify a house as American.
The thing I like in particular is, the fact that you do not need any extra enclosure on the meter(not like our big rectangular boxes that are stuck on walls over here, to cover the meters).

You know, this somehow puts me in mind of this thread from a short while ago.

These meter-lamps are far more artistic than that junk that passes for art!

Electric meters are beautiful pieces of machinery....ever since I saw my first one when I was five (on the kitchen wall of our first apartment in the States) I've been intrigued with them.

A couple of years ago I bought an old (working and sealed) meter from a meter collector for a few bucks...

I was thinking of hooking it up in series with the lightbulb above my workbench....but this seems like a nicer option!!

The only thing is he emailed me the "pin-out" of the screw-terminals (what goes to line, what to load), but I lost the email....and the terminals aren't labelled. I don't want to wire it up and only to have it blow up in my face...

Anyone have any idea if these things are standard and what goes where? Thanks!!

(Sorry for the threadjack, Donnie)

Sven,
If you've just got a standard 4 prong 1Ø meter, The 2 top are your lines, and the bottom 2 are loads,
The others, just check them for continuity and you'll find 'em
Hey, I really like this thing a lot,Txsparky! Thanks for sharing it...S



[This message has been edited by electure (edited 07-03-2003).]

sven, what model & voltage meter is it? is it an "A" base or an "S" type. the "S" type is a socket meter.the "A" base is self contained , no socket needed.if it's an A line side is left two terminals & load are the right two terminals.if you hook it up wrong it'll go backwards, unless it appens to be a SANGAMO "H".that's the way they run.hope this helps.ERWIN

Fairly modern form-2 240V meters work OK at 120V. For socket-based versions—labeled "fm2S"—line goes to top blades, and load goes to bottom blades. Just be sure the neutral connection is not grounded anywhere on the load side, or the meter will underregister. It takes roughly a 30-watt load to get the meter disc turning. The label “Kh” is the number of watthours {not kWh} registered per disc revolution.

Thanks guys!!!

It's an A-type meter, style is similar to the one that's wired into that table lamp. I believe it's a Westinghouse. I'm not at home, so I can't pull it out of the box and take a look at it to give any more details (if I recall correcly, it's for AC 110 volts single-phase). The cover over the terminals is missing though (if it ever had one). No big deal....

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 07-04-2003).]

electure,
Your Welcome. They looked too cool to keep it to myself. My brain is clicking on how to build one for myself. Wonder how hard it is to get a UL listing

sven, if you'll email me your addy i'll send ya a cover for it, they have LINE & LOAD stamped on them.you can send your addy to short62@webtv.net.

OK, I just pulled the old beast out of the nether-regions of my desk.

It's a General Electric, I-30-A for 240 volts, 15 amps, three wires, 60 hertz. A-Base. (Why did I think it was a Westinghouse? )

I put a meter across the four terminals and got continuity when I put the probes across the two outer terminals and then the two inner ones.

In other words:

1 2 3 4

X | X X | X


(KEY: X = terminal screw, | = plastic barrier. The numbers are my own)

I placed the continuity meter probes on terminals 1 and 4 and got continuity. Across terminal 2 and 3 the same thing.

There are also these two copper bridging straps set up above the terminal screws -- with scrwews that allow you to change the way these things are bridged.

Hmmmm.....


[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 07-13-2003).]

hi sven, the little copper links are for the potential coil connections. these are opened for test purposes. if i rember correctly term. 1 & 4 or connected 2 & 3 are the same, the pot coil is hooked across 1 & 2. for 240 volts.it will work fine on 120 volts. just run a little slow. guys correct me on this if i'm wrong.