OT: Component Identification

[ecampos]

Hi all. There are a handful of really old control panels in my plant with some unfamiliar components in them. Wondering if anyone can tell me what these might be used for.

Image 1 attached is part of an e-stop circuit. It's labeled in the wiring diagram as "bumping pin" and appears to be a limit switch with a weight on top of it keeping it perpetually actuated. I just can't fathom what the purpose of this setup is.

Image 2 is two components. The first one is a set of plates with an adjustable wiper in the center. The wiper and the plates all have one wire connected to them, the wire from the wiper goes to the second component. I have no idea what either of these are. I took this picture several months ago and I don't remember where I had traced all of these wires to but I could get back in there and get some more information if necessary.

Thanks!

 

[Caveman]

My guess is the first is a "tilt" switch.
The second is a rectifier.

 

[just the cowboy]

old power supply

I would guess without seeing the machine it is a jam switch, the fixed weight is the referance if it moves up in a jam causing machine to jump it gets tripped.

The second is called a selenium rectifier with an adjustable output. If you open the doors to the control cabinet and smell rotten eggs the selenium rectifier went bad.

 

[Doug-P]

2nd jpg item #2 looks like a big wirewound rheostat.

 

[John Morris]

Holly.......

Its a rheostat. Good lord they were old when I saw my first one. It's like early fifties where did you Dig up this dinosaur

The other item looks alot like a split pulley.

Caveman got the first one right. Its a tilt switch. Like an old pinball game. (google it)

 

[ecampos]

Ha. Thanks for the great info guys. This gives me some stuff to google. A lot of this equipment was old when my company bought it ~30 years ago and some of the controls have never been updated. Still running but I'm trying to understand how it all works for when something breaks or needs to be replaced.

 

[rootboy]

Picture #1 looks like a gravity locking pin (used to keep the machine from moving while locked out), and the limit is there to make sure that the pin was returned prior to running the equipment.

 

[keithkyll]

Image 2. The second item is an adjustable wirewound resistor from Ohmite.
The first one is a Selenium rectifier. I would have called them obsolete, but this company says they can build one in 48 hours.

 

[danw]

As soon as I read selenium rectifier, I got a mental image of 4-5 orange heat sink plates bolted together under the seat of a mid 1960's Honda motorcycle.

Did Hondas of that era really use selenium rectifiers for the alternator charging circuit? Or am I having a senior moment?

 

[rootboy]

I remember them from the old elevators that used 120 VDC (hence the need for a rectifier). The reason for needing DC was that instead of timers, the coils would have a resistor and capacitor connected in series across them to provide a time delay.

The speed control for the motor (in this case a 3 phase motor, but it could have been a DC motor) was called the "Bedsprings". Which made sense, since as often as not they were made from bedsprings.

This ones "Bedspring" speed controller was made up from large gate closer springs mounted on a phenolic board with the springs stretched to prevent shorting across the coils.

They were made up from three sets of two springs in series connected in a Wye (star) pattern.

Needless to say the motor made a bit of a racket when it went into slow speed.

I've always told people that if they knew how elevators were made (and maintained) they would take the stairs...

 

[wes.s]

Do they use that pin to lock moving elements together for alignments and want to be sure it isn't left in machine when it is powered up?

 

[ecampos]

I believe just the cowboy got it right. I just double checked and this is indeed a weight sitting on top of a limit switch. I also asked one of the mechanics who has been here longer than me and he thought it was in case the machine jumps during a jam the weight should move and stop the machine. This is on a 60 ton punch press.

Edit: Also regarding his second point:

If you open the doors to the control cabinet and smell rotten eggs the selenium rectifier went bad.

Been looking into this and apparently the smoke is extremely poisonous. Any opinions on how bad it is to have this in production? Should I be replacing this panel asap?

 

[Caveman]

is this on a spinning flywheel Eccentric cam shaft, full revolution press??

 

[ecampos]

It's a flywheel with an eccentric cam shaft. Part revolution air clutch/brake though.

 

[Caveman]

Part revolution air clutch/brake though.

That is a relief to know.