Mercury arc rectifier

[Tony S]

Hi Toni,

I have a closeup of the elbows. There you can see the connections.
 

Hubert

View attachment 9449

The control grid is clear to see below the carbon anode. Their original use was to stop “backfire” where two anodes ignore the cathode pool and blast hell out of each other. Peter Cooper Hewitt designed the MAR followed by the MA-Thyratron about 10 years later.

It’s a long time since I’ve seen those bead insulators. We used them on the tops of kilns.

 

[Rob.]

The control grid is clear to see below the carbon anode. Their original use was to stop “backfire” where two anodes ignore the cathode pool and blast hell out of each other. Peter Cooper Hewitt designed the MAR followed by the MA-Thyratron about 10 years later.

It’s a long time since I’ve seen those bead insulators. We used them on the tops of kilns.

I think the last time I've seen ceramic bead insulators similar to those was on Kiln 5 & 6 s ignition lances. 

 

[Tony S]

Hubert, would you mind if I used the picture in the knowledgebase?

 

[Grendel]

Hubert, would you mind if I used the picture in the knowledgebase?

Of course not.
Do whatever you like with it.
I can make better pictures at home. This is part of one of the pictures I made before removing the tube for transport.
Just for me to know where all the wires go.

 

[Grendel]

These are a few pictures of a British MAR bulb that was donated to us a while ago.

It came in the original transport box with papers and labels. It's a 40 Amp 3 phase bulb.





The transport crate:

 

[Tony S]

Of course not.
Do whatever you like with it.
I can make better pictures at home. This is part of one of the pictures I made before removing the tube for transport.
Just for me to know where all the wires go.

Thank you. You will be credited with the photographs.

 

[poni]

the photos are great looks just like the one I worked on/with back in the 70's on a old goods lift in Camden  

 

[Tony S]

New thread added to Knowledgebase.

 

[Grendel]

Thanks for your trouble Toni.

Hubert

 

[Geoff1946]

Out of interest, what are you planning to do with them? Do you have a museum or somewhere to display them?

 

[Grendel]

Hi, yes we do.

We run a watermill open to the public and run a small museum dedicated to power generation.

Besides the watermill, we run water turbines, a few engines and we are planning the restoration of a large steam engine that was recently donated to us.
I was thinking of connecting one of these units to the exciter bars, so it can be used for excitation of one of the generators. Besides that i would like one to run a DC motor. Maybe for driving something in the Mill. Not sure yet.

 

[Geoff1946]

Hi, yes we do.

We run a watermill open to the public and run a small museum dedicated to power generation.

Besides the watermill, we run water turbines, a few engines and we are planning the restoration of a large steam engine that was recently donated to us.
I was thinking of connecting one of these units to the exciter bars, so it can be used for excitation of one of the generators. Besides that i would like one to run a DC motor. Maybe for driving something in the Mill. Not sure yet.

Brilliant! I love heritage sites and technical museums of any kind. I am involved with a windmill, but sadly not one that works any more.

What's your mill called, and do you have a website?

Very best wishes with your imaginative ventures.

 

[Grendel]

Hi Geoff,

The mill is the Broekmolen in Stramproy in the south of Holland.

There are not too many watermills in Holland due to lack of head.

We have three sets of millstones and all gears are made of wood.

The website is; www.broekmolen.nl but that is in Dutch and a bit outdated.

Most progress can be seen on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/broekmolen

Small impression of the mill running: 







Kind regards,

Hubert

 

[Geoff1946]

Thank you. Now linked on Facebook.

 

[Pete Geddes]

I might be wrong but @steptoe  did mention something about these for the Isle of Man trams years ago?

They do look fantastic

Yes the MAR's were all functioning until a few years ago when they were replaced with solid state diodes the size of your thumb.  We have about 12 polyphase bulbs in all and are hoping to bring the Laxey Substation back to life as a tourist attraction in the near future.

 

[Tony S]

Good to hear they haven’t been destroyed as many have been. Are the transformers OK or do they need rewinding? The switchgear was always fun, death traps but fun.

If you can could you please make a photo essay of rebuilding the Laxey converter station?

Our power house had both MAR’s and rotary converters, all sold for scrap even though (in spite) I tried to have them donated to a museum.