Late 20's Fuse boxes (Cartridge & Edison) - Electrician Talk - Professional Electrical Contractors Forum

Archania · 03-18-2009, 03:45 PM

I am replacing a service in a house built in 1929... Here are the original boxes before I took them out. And of course, lots of 30A fuses, and even a piece of 1/2 copper pipe for a 60A cartridge fuse!!

JohnJ0906 · 03-18-2009, 03:59 PM

Cool pics!

MDShunk · 03-18-2009, 04:38 PM

That's a perfect pictorial example of why modern day hinged cover junction boxes are still called "cutout boxes".

electricalperson · 03-18-2009, 07:32 PM

i see those things all the time

perry1 · 03-18-2009, 08:00 PM

archani; that copper may have been for the neutral were they back feeding the panels? perry

electricalperson · 03-18-2009, 08:04 PM

im going to start a vintage electrical product collection. i found a 100+ year old glazed porcelin tube i pulled out of a 1900 house

i also found a crowsfoot receptacle. 250volt rated 10 amp. had horizontal slots for 240volt receptacles and verticle slots for 120. problem with those is if it was wired for 240 the 120 volt side would be 240. you could plug in a lamp or radio into a 240 volt receptacle and blow it up in no time

Archania · 03-18-2009, 10:00 PM

Yea, the 1/2 inch copper pipe was on the neutral. It was a run for a cottage in the rear of the property that was abandoned years ago. Still strange I thought, since every other neutral was fused.

InPhase277 · 03-19-2009, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by electricalperson

im going to start a vintage electrical product collection. i found a 100+ year old glazed porcelin tube i pulled out of a 1900 house

i also found a crowsfoot receptacle. 250volt rated 10 amp. had horizontal slots for 240volt receptacles and verticle slots for 120. problem with those is if it was wired for 240 the 120 volt side would be 240. you could plug in a lamp or radio into a 240 volt receptacle and blow it up in no time

No, those were for 120 usually. The two configurations were there to accommodate the two common types of 120 volt plugs at the time. The first widely sold plug was made by Bryant and it had horizontal blades, similar to the NEMA 6-20 we use today. At the same time, parallel blade plugs were becoming popular, like the NEMA 5-15. So, some companies began producing receptacles that could accept both.

Search Google Patents, you will find a plethora of info about old electrical stuff.

electricalperson · 03-19-2009, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InPhase277

No, those were for 120 usually. The two configurations were there to accommodate the two common types of 120 volt plugs at the time. The first widely sold plug was made by Bryant and it had horizontal blades, similar to the NEMA 6-20 we use today. At the same time, parallel blade plugs were becoming popular, like the NEMA 5-15. So, some companies began producing receptacles that could accept both.

Search Google Patents, you will find a plethora of info about old electrical stuff.

the receptacle was rated for 250v 10 amps

InPhase277 · 03-20-2009, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by electricalperson

the receptacle was rated for 250v 10 amps

Right, because there were no standards on plug types for different voltages. So they were rated at the maximum voltage that was likely to be used. Almost always though, they were on 120 V. I have 3 of the receptacles myself, two singles and a duplex. Very neat stuff. Check the patent info on it, you will see what I mean.

electricalperson · 03-20-2009, 09:16 PM

well what were there technical or trade names?

InPhase277 · 03-20-2009, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by electricalperson

well what were there technical or trade names?

Don't know. But here is the patent link:http://www.google.com/patents?id=bjllAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA1&dq

Idaho Abe · 03-25-2009, 11:03 PM

What is the amp rating for 1/2 copper water pipe????

Archania · 03-25-2009, 11:15 PM

On another note... I was going through the kitchen of the house where these were. Found a box of about 20 15A Edison fuses!! The ones they probably didn't want to use since they blew too often!

TOOL_5150 · 03-25-2009, 11:18 PM

so wheres the after pics man....??

~Matt

Archania · 03-25-2009, 11:47 PM

Getting there... I was going to use the original feeders, but it turned out the neutral was way undersized- #8 solid. The hots were #4. Was a 75 amp service, but that was the 20's... Wasn't going to fly with the inspector these days.
I just put up the new service drop (2 story house). Luckily it was easy to just run it out to the side of the house and up, with a main disconnect and meter socket. (200 amps)
But yea, I will post some after pics in the next few days...

And there are some other goofball things I am going to take pictures of to post here.

TOOL_5150 · 03-26-2009, 01:18 AM

I noticed you are in CA. May I ask what city? This looks like some homes I have seen in berkeley or oakland area.

~Matt

Archania · 03-26-2009, 09:38 PM

Its actually a house in Palo Alto. (and I live in Palo Alto as well)

TOOL_5150 · 03-26-2009, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Archania

Its actually a house in Palo Alto. (and I live in Palo Alto as well)

Ahh I was working there earlier this week.

~Matt

MDShunk · 03-26-2009, 11:26 PM

Shoulda figured it was a California install from the earthquake strap on the water heater. They're never used around here. Plumbers probably wouldn't know where to buy them, even if a fella wanted one.