A mercury vapor rectifier - 1964-03-18
A mercury vapor rectifier - 1964-03-18
Before the invention of solid state rectifiers, these devices were used to supply 600V DC to the trolleybuses of Liège.
The unit is seen here in activity, shining blue and ultraviolet light !
Unfortunately, this is a b/w photo !
I wonder how much of that UV light was UVA, UVB, and, (shudder!) UVC? I bet that puppy did a great job of "disinfecting" anything in the general vicinity!
ReplyDeleteOshi Shikigami You are right ! This machine was probably not very healthy !
ReplyDeleteBut I must add that this unit was in a closed cabined which was only opened for me to take my picture (you can just see the open door on the extreme left).
And it was placed (with several others) in a depot where people would normally not spend much time.
Here's a working rectifier. Every home should have one!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNNnv3TOUbQ
frank o'shea Thank you for your very interesting link.
ReplyDeleteHere is another one showing one of these rectifiers in normal operation for the Manx Electric Railway on the isle of Man. You can see how the intensity of its operation varies according to the current draw of the electric tram.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjMZ5qtyCUc
Most interesting! I've never seen such a thing. You were fortunate to have been given the opportunity to take this picture. It's neat!
ReplyDeleteAnn Kennedy Above all, I was fortunate to visit the trams and trolleybuses depot with the grandson of the founder of the tramway company, and beleive me, he could still open some doors, including the door of the mercury rectifier !
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a look at the You Tube link. It shows exactly what I have seen...
Laurent TRUILLET that was an informative Youtube. It also had other links to similar such. Very interesting. There was a lot of craftsmanship involved in making these and a lot of skill using them.
ReplyDeleteWith my work with reptile rescue and husbandry, I use a variety of UV lamps. UVB specifically 295 micrometers UVB, is necessary for many of them to convert vitamin D3 to calcium.
I have a special light meter that is designed to read that specific value of UVB light, as we of course cannot visually judge the levels.
My eyeglasses are all specially coated for UV absorption. As it can cause cataracts. Actually even with these glasses, I wear all the time, I still have early stage cataracts.
It is still 'worth it' to me to continue, but I really appreciate the dangers of UV light and the higher the frequency the more dangerous it can become. It only takes a very short exposure to an intense UVC light to cause partial blindness, skin cancer, and especially sunburn. So I also like to be sure people are informed of these dangers
The sun produces UV A, B, and C. Fortunately the atmosphere filters out almost all the C. But there is enough B, to be dangerous, like mention with the C, but at a much slower rate. So if you go to the beach, or just outside a lot, some protection is advised. Even on overcast days the B gets through the clouds, mostly not impeded.
I guess that's enough on it. unless any have questions? :-)
Wow, this whole post is a wow! Like watching an old "Ask Mr.Wizzard" show. Fun to see and informative.
ReplyDeleteThe rectifiers look like something straight out of a 1950's Sci-fi. When did they stop making these things?
Thank you to everyone that gave information on this and the dangers of UV light.