Scary 1920's high voltage thing (LOUD ELECTRICAL NOISES)

[@JCGver]

That thing is an antenna short of being a sparkgap radio. I can't even begin to imagine just how much electric noise that thing puts out.

[@ernestsmith3581]

With an antenna connected to the top grid, ground to bottom grid, and a key in the DC input line it would put out a nice fat, buzzy mcw signal near (all around) the frequency your antenna wire is a quarter wave.

[@stickyfox]

how much would you like?

[@realblakrawb]

You could hear it on the mic..... A lot of rf 🤣

[@grnbrg]

Looks more like a low(ish) voltage tesla coil to me.

[@charmio]

​@@grnbrgIt is kinda similar to a Tesla coil, however the schematic is far closer to a spark gap transmitter. In fact they're practically identical.

[@gerrybvr]

I can remember my mother routinely using one of those pendant plugs for her clothes iron during the 60's. When I asked about the green wire sticking out of it, my older brother informed me "Oh, you don't need that one".

[@ConstantlyDamaged]

/o\

[@barrieshepherd7694]

Along with the 'multi' bayonets, with switch on the side, so you could have the light and the iron on at the same time. My grandmother had one permanently installed with a long 'catinerary' wire running across the ceiling mounted clothes lift/rack down the side of the window to her radio.

[@gerrybvr]

@@barrieshepherd7694 Yes we had them too, now that you mention it. I should have also mentioned the house, built in the early 50's, originally only had 2 sockets. 15A round pin jobs, one in the kitchen and one in the sitting room and a two way NDZ fuse board for power and lights.

[@Stuart-AJC]

@@gerrybvr My Gradparents house had those huge 15A sockets, but also the tiny 2A 3 pin ones IIRC

[@barrieshepherd7694]

@@gerrybvr My grandmothers lived 4 miles apart but each had a different main power outlet, one a round centre earth pin with a vertical L and horizontal N rectangular pin in a line (a bit like I O - ) and the other similar but with all the pins in the same orientation but offset ( - O _ ) Both plugs could only connect in a similar way but appliances could not be moved from house to house!

[@mysock351C]

6:00 I love how Clive suddenly sounds like his voice is coming off an old shellac record once it turns on. If it doesn't cause everything in the house to stop working, sometimes even permanently, then it isn't vintage (DANGEROUS) enough, and no fun.

[@MrDuncl]

I thought it was more like a Dalek.

[@bethaltair812]

Things with lampholder plugs rarely disappoint, especially medical tat!

[@PerspectiveEngineer]

Got a screw in my waffle iron now

[@rayoflight62]

At the time, households had light bulbs screwed in a lamp holder with no provisions made for other electrical appliances. Therefore, any electrical device which wasn't a light bulb, had a socket mimicking the screw part of a light bulb, to pick up electricity from the only connection present...

[@PerspectiveEngineer]

@@rayoflight62 boy l used to know this off the top my head... Vibrator, toaster, iron, fan, and waffle iron

[@hjalfi]

All we need now to complete the collection is a piece of hundred-year old electric medical tat which is either radioactive, or emits X-rays, or both!

[@tbelding]

I bought two lampholder plugs less than a year ago, specifically to plug a LED flood-light into the switched socket.

[@iangrice329]

Bloody hell, that's just the noise you need in a sick room 😮

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's the sound of miracle healing.

[@chryseus1331]

You'll recover faster just to get out of there.

[@sarkybugger5009]

I remember my Dad getting the house rewired in the late 60s. All the old wiring was lead sheathed, rubber insulated stuff, and decidedly dodgy. Round pin sockets in the kitchen and living room, and bugger all anywhere else. I spent hours stripping cable, to make fishing weights from the lead. All the new sockets were a luxury. I got to have a bedside light and a _wireless!_ Not long after that, we got double glazing and central heating. No more Jack Frost on the windows, no going out for more coal in the rain, no more emptying the grate. Kids today... 😉

[@bigclivedotcom]

Lead sheathed vulcanised india rubber cable. Very brittle these days, and sadly still in daily use in many homes.

[@Lumibear.]

This is what always makes me smile when kids say ‘you had it so easy back then when houses were so cheap’, yes, but by todays standards they were also barely functional. We first lived in a rural area in a farmhouse. Things have changed so much so fast over my years it’s beyond comprehension to anyone under 30 that a 50-something English guy could’ve experienced this as a child, they think such things happened over a century ago or something, but: Every week day during winter, I emptied out the ashes and relit the coal fire every morning, which melted the ice that formed inside the single-glazed wooden framed windows (that needed painting every summer), and as well as the house the fire slowly heated the hot water tank, so we were washing in freezing cold water every morning, me still in my bed socks because otherwise the draught under the bathroom door froze my toes on the already cold tiles, then we all helped Mum mop up the puddles forming on the sills before changing out of our heavy night wear and dressing for school under the bed covers. Every time it rained we’d get water seeping in through the cracks around the ill fitting windows and doors, especially if it was windy too, and we’d get a leak in the roof at least every other year, which Dad fixed when the weather allowed. We never had fitted carpets or wallpaper because they’d only rot, if needed, Mum dried the damp out of the rugs and mats in front of the dying fire overnight, and redecorating in summer was painting directly onto the flaking plaster and wood to cover up the water stains and mould. Living by candlelight was common due to a dodgy electrical supply and frequent strikes, and it always went off during a thunderstorm. As we didn’t have gas we’d cook on the coal fire then. We mostly lived off stews & soups in winter because they were relatively easy to make, but I liked hot malted milk and buttered toast the best. Lastly, we didn’t get an inside loo fitted until the mid to late 70s, it was decreed we had to and the council made huge holes in the walls and garden for the outside plumbing, I was about 6 or 7 I think and I recall that my Mum thought it was most unsanitary and was convinced it would leak from beneath it. Now people think a fast food chain running out of gravy is a news worthy crisis.

[@wafikiri_]

If you think lead sheathed, rubber-insulated wiring was old . . . I know of a house in my village that still has some early-20th-century silk-wrapped, ceramic-beads shrouded wiring and old-style "really turn" on and off switches. I repaired one of those, that's how I know.

[@POVwithRC]

​​​@@Lumibear.Houses were way cheaper ten and twenty years ago. None of us are complaining about how cheap they were in the bloody neolithic period. Don't get it twisted.

[@mfbfreak]

​@@Lumibear. Better a shitty house than no house at all. But also, remember that people who complain about their parents having housing already in their early 20s, they're talking about people who had their first house around 1970 or so. While there were still plenty of dilapidated 19th century houses out there, it also was the big apartment block boom and those 1950s-1970s built apartments were terribly isolated to modern standards - but generally safe, well heatable thanks to pre-oil crisis fuel prices, and most of all very affordable. Finally, even if you have a crappy drafty leaky house, you can do things about it. Isolation is pretty affordable. You just have to put some of your own labor into it and enough people are very willing to DIY if that means they'll have a house of their own.

[@DIYDaveOK]

The woodwork craft in that box is wonderful; finger jointed corners, mortised hinges, roundover molding routed into the top, all solid wood. There's less actual wood in most contemporary $1,500 coffee tables sold these days at "Chic Du Jour" trendy furniture house.

[@wtmayhew]

Funny you should mention the cabinetry. I was just chatting with friends about a 1923 Crosley model XJ TRF medium wave radio set. The radio cost $65 which is the equivalent of $1,536 US in 2023. The wood cabinet was optional and cost $16 which is the the equivalent of $285 now. So for at least Crosley, the craftsmanship came with a considerable price tag.

[@wtmayhew]

I have an old Edison portable cylinder phonograph which was made about 1910. The cabinet on that thing is a similar work of art with a domed wood cover. The mechanism is also hand decorated. The Edison still plays cylinders well and as far as I can tell everything including the leather belt and sapphire stylus is original. I doubt many devices made today will still be working without modifications 113 years from now. Batteries not included … because it doesn’t need them.

[@gcewing]

But then there's the crudely cut out hole in the top panel for the air duct. It looks like they took an existing box made for something else and repurposed it.

[@JtagSheep]

@@gcewing It could have been inteded as the box for a music box or a jewelry box if it was repurposed.

[@Willy_Tepes]

Furniture and houses are literally made of paper and sawdust these days.

[@paulhall9811]

In the mid 80s I used to visit my Great Uncle. His house was a throw back to the 1950s. The central light fitting had so many adapters it looked like it had bakelite and brass hemorrhoids. He still had a gas powered fridge.

[@zzoinks]

Wow, a gas powered fridge! Now that's amazing

[@Rob-e8w]

The absorption type of fridge needs a heat source which can be gas, electricity or whatever. Electrolux fridges work on this principle and are popular in caravans because they are silent.@@zzoinks

[@JohnnyDanger36963]

​@@zzoinksmost rvs have propane gas refrigerator

[@miketrissel5494]

You are a man beyond your years, Clive. I spent a goodly amount of my years, repairing elevators from as early as 1908. There were no schematics, and it took common sense and seat of the pants , digging, to make essential things work. You made a real nice schematic from a mechanical circuit board.😄

[@bigclivedotcom]

You'll find an old EM lift/elevator slate panel in my videos.

[@paulperry7091]

I worked in a building with a very old elevator - it had a wheel with brass contacts to detect when the floors of the building were level with the lift floor. Except when pigeons in the building attic shat on the mechanism, leaving the lift stopping about a foot too high. So the lowest ranking office worker was on call for "pigeon duties".

[@trustnoone81]

I'm an economist. The next time I have to use the expression "adjusting for inflation" I'll make sure to say "in relative terms to the current era". It just sounds way more majestic!

[@Miata822]

Years ago out at a flea market in the country I saw a beautiful vintage electroshock therapy unit. It came with all the accessories, wires and electrodes, and a lovely instruction manual describing how to treat mania and hysteria with the device. Sometimes I wish that I had bought it, but at the time I didn't trust myself not to try it out on someone. Probably a good choice.

[@napalmholocaust9093]

I saw a great bayonet once. I came to the same conclusion 😃

[@frankowalker4662]

Yeah, it's so tempting to something like that. But like you, I'm bound to test it. (probebly 'accidently' on myself. LOL)

[@MysteriumArcanum]

As someone who is interested in old medical quack devices I definitely would've bought it

[@CheradanineZakalwe]

My granddad had one. I wonder what happened to it.

[@frankowalker4662]

@@MysteriumArcanum TBH, so would I. Ha ha.

[@SeanBZA]

1920 likely would have been 100VDC or 200VDC, with power provided by a nice big mercury arc rectifier at the substation down the street. The substation is across the park from me, with the rooms still there, just empty, that held the mercury arc rectifier, and the second room that held the transformer that provided traction power, using the rectifiers, for the trolley car system that used to run in the city. You still find bits of the special rails in use as mountings for crash barriers, or used as mounting poles, with the cable still in the street as well, too hard to dig up, though a lot got repurposed for AC use, as they used a regular 4 core paper insulated cable already in use in volume, and simply used 2 conductors in parallel for the DC power rail.

[@ecospider5]

It is always amazing to me what electrical stuff they were able to make before 1920. They only barely understood the basic components of resistors, capacitors, coils, and motors. They did a lot with very little. They didn’t really even understand radio communication yet.

[@WJCTechyman]

No, but computers were just coming on the scene then.

[@ItsMrAssholeToYou]

Ur mom didn't understand radio communications yet.

[@ottonormalverbrauch3794]

See if you can lay a hand on an Ionofane tweeter, it was a plasmatweeter that also produced ozone ( besides the highest and very low distortion high sound frequencies). I had one in the eighties that I donated to a loudspeaker afficianado.

[@davelowets]

@@ottonormalverbrauch3794 Those things stunk the room up with ozone fairly quickly... 🫢

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

I disagree, Hertz had a decent understand of radio communication in the 1880s. By the 1920s, we have vacuum tubes, oscillators, tuned circuits, people understood antennæ, bandwidth considerations, magnetics, well enough to mass produce radio sets that worked well.

[@tomvarley4344]

DC was prevalent at the time, a colleague from the seventies worked as an apprentice in the thirties and accidently switched 1000V DC (which was a supply for industry in Trafford Park) onto the domestic grid around Salford. The result was it burnt out all the radios in the area and cost his company a small fortune.

[@SteveW139]

An interesting and unusual way of tendering one’s resignation.

[@beamer.electronics]

One apprentice found the following day strapped across the 1KVDC supply. 🤕

[@tbelding]

@@beamer.electronics - trolley tracks.

[@iamjadedhobo]

The equipment build in that era was almost a work of art in itself. Nothing was mass produced and even a medium sized city could support a local manufacturer.

[@nickwallette6201]

At the equivalent of 500 pounds for a spark generator, you can see why. :-)

[@johnwelbourn3811]

Fantastic Clive, more videos like this please. BTW, as a kid, our house was full of dangerously overloaded lighting sockets, with bakelite plugs. I'd had several potent shocks by the age of ten

[@penfold7800]

...and then you became an Electrician!?

[@micahnightwolf]

I got a rather nasty zing off my grandmother's electric alarm clock plug at the ripe old age of two. And Clive was right. Something about being nearly killed by electricity as a child drove my interest in it through the roof later in life.

[@SUPRAMIKE18]

I remember my grandfather cleaning out the attic of old stuff, he found an old electric shaver with a lamp socket plug and screwed it in a socket to test it, the thing revved up higher than any shaver I've ever heard and every light in the house dimmed, the old electric motor blew itself apart before he could turn it off, all this happened in the space of about 3 seconds lmao

[@Leroys_Stuff]

Can concur you learn quick

[@kwacz]

@@SUPRAMIKE18 might not have been standard 110 volt ac. could have even been for the old 25 cycle ac or even a lower voltage dc power. some of these motors would run on dc or ac. The dc fed into some homes was a much lower voltage.

[@pjaj43]

My late aunt used to tell the story of when she was doing her teacher training in Eastbourne, she was out walking by the sea when she heard a holiday maker say "Ah yes, you can smell the ozone". What said holiday maker didn't know was that, in those days, Eastbourne discharged its sewage through a big pipe that ran down the beach and into the sea, the open end of which was exposed at low tide. They were stood right by it.

[@tin2001]

That's pretty funny.... Now if you'll excuse me, I feel a big fat ozone coming on.

[@zzoinks]

Did people swim near it?

[@darylcheshire1618]

The ozone smell of the sea is probably iodine from drying seaweed.

[@JohnnyDanger36963]

Sewage is the opposite smell as ozone. Ozone us fresh ,not stinky Waves generate ozone.

[@jeffreymorris1752]

The wonder to me isn't that this old gadget had an effect on your microphone circuit, but that it didn't completely knock that signal into the dirt. It's like 50 EMPs per second or whatever frequency the thing runs at. Modern circuits and error correction are solid af.

[@g8xft]

I remember seeing double socket adaptors for light sockets - with a bulb and an appliance (like a toaster or iron) in use simultaneously.

[@napalmholocaust9093]

I still use them. Let me put the carbon monoxide detector at the ceiling.

[@lesallison9047]

I was using one when I needed extra light about 4 years ago, and I still keep it in my useful electronic equipment collection.

[@Shaun.Stephens]

Me too. Then again I was a child in the 1960s...

[@dougbrowning82]

You can still buy those socket adapters in Canada. Screws into a light socket, with a socket for the bulb at the other end, and plug sockets on either side.

[@g8xft]

@@Shaun.Stephens me too

[@terryhayward7905]

The reason for plugging it into the light socket was that in the early days, you were supplied with ONE light free, and almost everything had a light socket connecting plug, even electric irons had them. Fuses back then were not like todays fuses, and they would take a large enough current to be really dangerous.

[@lukedoherty8062]

To be fair the fuses used then are pretty much the fuses a lot of houses with a Wylex fuse box we’re using till the 1990s and a lot of house probably still have today

[@imark7777777]

I love seeing these weird old pieces of history it's almost the equivalent of real life steampunk, electricity and complex circuitry all made in this wood handcrafted box.

[@Loscha]

Tbe extreme 50hz voice amplitude modulation makes you sound like the Hurdy Gurdy Man!

[@bigclivedotcom]

It was a bit fierce.

[@G7OEA]

As someone who lives on the coast of the Irish sea, i can smell it from my house. And now the phrase plankton fart will forever be etched in my brain. Thanks, Clive.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Enjoy breathing in that fresh bracing plankton-fart.

[@JackHudler]

Plankton farts is CO2. Humans cannot compete with the ocean for CO2 production.

[@Loreroth]

The ocean actualy absorbs a significant amount of global co2 and produces oxygen as a result

[@lesallison9047]

🤣😂🤣😂

[@Shaun.Stephens]

@@JackHudler Actually (phyto)plankton fart is most likely O2. High concentrations of O2 can smell like O3. There is more phytoplankton than there is zooplankton (which produce CO2) so... Well you get it right?

[@ABaumstumpf]

The sound distortion from the coils and arcing - marvelous

[@Alan2E0KVRKing]

I remember as a kid in the 70's my Dad plugging the Xmas tree lights from a light fitting. So still being used in the 70's in our house!

[@bigclivedotcom]

Likewise the 60's.

[@Chrisamic]

In the 60's we had a 240V light string on the Christmas tree. The tree was tinsel mind you, one of those horrible silver things. I remember we had one of the light socket double adaptors but they were falling out of use by then.

[@samuelfellows6923]

Far more easier with the light switch, than bending down the side of the Christmas tree to the switched socket to turn on the fairy lights, nowadays it is done with; a 24h socket timer/a smart socket controlled by a smartphone, an artificial RGB LED tree/fairy lights controlled by a phone

[@totherarf]

Back in the 1920's you would need to buy electrical devices rated for the voltage in your area! In Manchester UK we had a duct system in the pavement with 5 busbars all at different voltages so when you hooked up to them you chose the voltage from any two of the 5 to give the requested voltage! I have heard stories about repair teams walking the streets after some rain had wet the pavement looking for eather dry patches or steam to find where the busbars had warped after faults and were gently touching each other generating heat! They would mark the dry flags with crayon and a repair team would be dispatched. The times have changed a bit! ;o)

[@leybraith3561]

I have vague memories of a Bakelite lampholder double adaptor in our (1960?) dining room overhead hanging lampfitting. We were using 2 lightbulbs in it at the time but I remember being puzzled when my Grandfather said that it used to be used for the iron. That memory probably reinforced by the room's only powerpoint subsequently being the source of my ... First Mains Zap...

[@tactileslut]

Doesn't everyone remember his first 240v zap and exactly which thing gave it?

[@zzoinks]

​@@tactileslutwhat could you get zapped by?

[@tactileslut]

@@zzoinks Well, zoinks, jinkies, in my case it was the plug of an alarm clock, which had two unsleeved round pins and plugged into an adapter which completely defeated the safety features of the common British plug and socket.

[@TopEndSpoonie]

I think that you should have demonstrated the babies ability to get shocked.

[@bigclivedotcom]

It's very hard to get hold of babies for these tests.

[@gloomyblackfur399]

Wanting "artificial sea air" is so wonderfully British.

[@Nono-hk3is]

I love those box joints! Beats a plastic housing any day of the week. (Aesthetically, at least.)

[@jamesgilbart2672]

Fascinating glimpse of 1920s life! It's amusing that high levels of ozone are harmful to the lungs and actually cause the very symptoms the device makers claimed it would treat.

[@arthurmann578]

Help your children breath easier while keeping them awake all night from the constant noise! A device that only Helen Keller could love! 😂

[@reggiep75]

Loud electrical noise always signals entertainment!

[@mrpdude84]

Basically a violet wand that discharges across electrodes to create ozone. Cool Wagner's hammer ❤❤

[@JPN76]

The multi strand iron wire core was how they made laminated cores back then. Each strand is laminated, just like the plates in a modern transformer to insulate them. I've made a few replacment cores for old ignition coils, and one of the best things to use is pieces of laminated wire coat hanger. Usually the original is much smaller diameter wire though.

[@paradiselost9946]

welding wire, preferably for oxy welding, and better yet... florists wire, often comes pre wrapped. and is about 0.5mm. the thinner the core wires the faster the field collapses. plates work but arent so good as they still suffer bad eddy current loss. magnetic field in collapsing cuts the length of the core, creating eddy currents in each strand, through its diameter. larger diameter, larger eddy current, and larger resultant lenz law opposing collapse. the plates of a normal transformer are good for 50-60hz. audio transformers get thinner laminations, but also run low flux densities as they want linearity. the induction coils about creating the largest magnetic field possible then "popping" it... ferrites are really good but the choice of material matters. and so does the geometry, there is an ideal length/diameter ratio.

[@mernokimuvek]

I think even back then they had a high resistance low hysteresis loss alloy, not just regular steel.

[@darksu6947]

​@@paradiselost9946You sound like a fun guy to hangout with.

[@cybermaus]

And to think, in those days all they needed to do to simulate sea air was remove the arsenic laden wallpaper. It was later found the reason people felt so much better after being at the shore for a few days is because they were out of their houses with said wallpaper for a few days.

[@memejeff]

Magnificent piece of machinery. Another one that I must hunt for. Its always super fun to see stuff from the old era. It fascinates me since it was only 100 years ago yet info from that era is so diluted.

[@Ralphs-House]

Oh I love 1920s home gadgets. Always crude in terms of build and incredibly optimistic from any sales people. Built to last, has to look like furniture but reassuringly potentionally lethal. All prerequisites for the modern 'housewife' of the era. Full mains voltage beauty-aids being the most common. My family had a 1920s toaster, meant to plug into the light socket (judging by the plug). We used it only briefly as all the elements were exposed but it looked fantastic.

[@echothehusky]

Nice unit! I have a vintage home 'tanning' lamp from the same sort of age that gives off alarmingly high levels of UVC and ozone. Certainly not safe for use in the home. (or anywhere else for that matter!) That ozone unit will work on DC, the wireless accumulator being a rechargeable battery. I have the remains of a 110V radio accumulator stored here somewhere.

[@andygozzo72]

i have an unused(never been filled) vintage 2v accumulator

[@echothehusky]

@@andygozzo72 Nice!

[@simplybeanjelly]

I love how mechanical old electronics were. Simple, yet got the job done. Very cool bit of engineering. It's neat seeing stuff from 100 years ago.

[@jeffdayman8183]

You can hear the quality when it's running! It's doing something good, we can tell. 8^) For folks of the time, used to hand cranking cars and hearing them start, this was a familiar kind of feedback from an appliance / tool. Love it, but I am glad I am on this side of the monitor. (I've used up 7 or so of my lives tinkering with old 1930's - 1950's electric stuff already) Cheers! PS the buzzing would make a heck of a cell phone ringtone....

[@bobroberts2371]

You are missing the point of having the switch where it is. This device also doubles at a magic power saver device

[@18robsmith]

Oooooo a combined RFI & ozone generator, just what every home needs.

[@jensschroder8214]

finally a device from that time that complies with the safety regulations!

[@radio-ged4626]

Love this. Please do as many early electronic gizmos as possible. The weirder the better. 😮😂❤

[@TechGorilla1987]

@12:07 - Plankton Fart. That will forever be incorporate in to my lexicon when describing certain people I know.

[@Graham_Rule]

I love the idea of just plugging this into the light fitting. It reminds me of my mum's "travel iron" that could plug into a standard bayonet fitting (or, via an adapter, even one of those absurd Edison screw light fittings that foreigners sometimes used). Of course, there was an unswitched splitter that allowed you to use the original light bulb alongside the iron. This could also allow my dad to use his electric shaver while illuminating the hotel's room. I doubt that any consideration was given to supply voltage, never mind power factor.

[@davidg4288]

My grandfather used to live in an old house (in the US) where ALL the electrical receptacles including the ones along the baseboards were Edison sockets that would fit a standard light bulb. There might have been safety covers, most were filled with adapters that would accept a standard 2 prong US plug. No grounding of course. I've not seen anything still wired like that since then.

[@mernokimuvek]

@@davidg4288 Those sockets were actually invented by William Sawyer and Albon Man in 1878. edison stole the idea from them.

[@darksu6947]

​@@mernokimuvekEdison was a wonderful person and would have never done such a thing. Just ask Nikola Tesla.

[@mernokimuvek]

@@darksu6947 You can read about the war of currents on wikipedia. It is well documented that edison electrocuted animals and advocated for using the electric chair as the main method of execution to scare the stupid american public from alternating current. edison was one of the most evil person who ever lived. Just ask any radical animal rights activist. Animals are much more important than humans.

[@MrTconquest]

What a beautiful instrument

[@PenryMMJ]

The price might seem expensive, but when you look at the quality of that cabinet (solid wood, hand made dovetail joints, nicely trimmed, French polished) you'd be up around the same price just to make the box today.

[@ABaumstumpf]

The box was made as cheap as you can get and with modern production that wouldn't even be 20$ worth of box.

[@ebradley2357]

I came here for the loud electrical noise and Clive did not disappoint!

[@steveroberts1861]

Don't forget a tall hat. The inventor would've had a tall hat.

[@frankowalker4662]

I love old equipment like this. Most of the time they roughly did what they said they did, while looking very ornate in hand crafted cases.

[@macgvrs]

A fascinating little machine. It is scary how they did things back then. Sadly, it wasn't limited to back then. I saw an older home around the late 80's, I think, but I saw an outlet adapter screwed into a light socket with extension cords going in all directions. I couldn't believe it. I was stunned.

[@martinploughboy988]

Many houses in my youth did not have electrical sockets upstairs, but did have electric lights. We, like another has mentioned, had an adaptor so we could use the light at the same time as something else, like a kettle. I also remember buying WWII kit that was vibrator powered. It had a canister, like a big capacitor & contained a system such as in the one described. It was used to generate high voltages for valve equipment. For that reason I suspect the Thing was intended for DC.

[@halbvoll1]

Wow, amazing, thanks for sharing this rare thing with us

[@kevinthomas1707]

It's fun looking over the past era tech that you come across

[@andyreact]

This is fantastic 👍

[@brucepickess8097]

Yes operates on DC as well as the advertisment said it would operate from a "Wireless Accumulator" . Accumulator (battery) for HT supply rail for radio typically arround 90-120 V DC.😏

[@jerril42]

I'm curious what the RF interference on this thing would be like. Interesting historical device. Thanks Clive.

[@tubastuff]

Reminds me of an old automotive "trembler" coil used on the Model T. Love the box-joint enclosure!

[@johnhowe6178]

My great grandfather had an "Electric Light Generating License" .the predecessor of the electricians license. I still have it framed on my wall.

[@chri-k]

“Electric light generating license” sounds so weird

[@ehsnils]

A brave man powering up a high voltage device from the 1920's.

[@pnadk]

I love to see vintage electronics. Very interesting device and advertisement.

[@markboyle9941]

The lamp socket reminded me of my grandmother using an electric iron plugged into the lamp socket! She even had a system where the upstairs lights had to be plugged into a socket downstairs (two round prongs of course, all bakelite) to get power. My grandad had wired the house when they first got electricity (100 vdc) from a local power station. This remained in situ until she died in the mid 90s!!! Amazing it never went on fire...

[@dennis-nz5im]

No wireless accumulator?

[@markboyle9941]

@@dennis-nz5im sadly not. The shop that sold those was long gone by the 80's and she always rented a TV from Radio Rentals. There was a big Murphy radiogram in the front room though.

[@maj1285]

I wish you have a follow up video on such device and its effect in modern radio equipment. For some reasons, vintage electrical equipment looked creepy, even haunted.

[@tonyweavers4292]

They made things to last in those days.

[@paulmurgatroyd6372]

Even the bad things.

[@lukahierl9857]

The devices lasted, the humans not so much

[@paulmurgatroyd6372]

@@lukahierl9857 Because of the devices. 😄

[@ernestsmith3581]

Recaping needed. Clearly some components are just problematic.

[@MrCobo04]

I can remember seeing my granny ironing with her ‘new’ electric iron plugged into light socket

[@McTroyd]

Speaking of ham radio, that could easily serve as a spark gap transmitter. You'd be simultaneously pounced by every radio regulatory authority in the entire planet -- I think the Ofcom is headed your way now -- but in a pinch, it would work for Morse code. The preppers would be proud. 👍

[@Lu_Woods]

to be fair....Electricity IS magic !

[@napalmholocaust9093]

500 bucks no doubt. Even on the bottom where a secondary wood would be used, it is still mahogany.

[@ozonesama]

Another great video on the topic of ozone, with a charming touch of retro-quackery, thank you very much.

[@samuelfellows6923]

That would be “antique-quackery”

[@madmanmapper]

The box looks suspiciously like a small phonograph. Whether it would've been AC or DC in those days really depended on your local power plant. A lot of plants in America and the UK were still running DC. 240v hadn't been standardized yet in the UK. Maybe not even in America. Early days of electricity indeed. Also, yes, MFD or MF stand for MicroFarad (uf).

[@mernokimuvek]

Even frequencies were not standardized. North America had some 25 Hz power plants. The Ganz Works in Hungary used 42 Hz. And some other power plant supplied 40 Hz in Europe. Some even older carbon arc light circuits used 125 or 133 Hz.

[@wimwiddershins]

This is brilliant! Zappy fun for all the family.

[@colday74]

Looking at the flyer at the beginning, it says Connect to electric light or 'wireless accumulator'. Clive, what is a wireless accumulator and why haven't you taken one apart yet?

[@bigclivedotcom]

Just a fancy name for a battery.

[@georgescott6967]

wireless accumulator = radio battery

[@john_barnett]

absolutely want more early 20th century electronics and devices

[@FatNorthernBigot]

Does it also banish "bad humours" and the "vapours"? 😂 If I remember correctly an ozone generator is great for removing the smell of erm... Jamaican organic materials.

[@jimsvideos7201]

I think alarming would be an understatement.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

It's fun to explore old electrical devices, they are ofthen sketchy and whimsical

[@KeritechElectronics]

The first thing I saw when you lifted the cover were the prochronistic capacitors, haha! Real deal vintage electrical dodginess, looks like the dodgy Chinese stuff you get on Aliexpress has a century old tradition. Electrical safety my ass! On the other hand... it's built in a manner typical of 1920s electrical engineering, or like Glasslinger's retro radios, which is fine in my book. Reverse engineering wise, it's basically a more advanced version of Ruhmkorff's inductor with a separate vibrator relay and step-up transformer.

[@zh84]

Today I learned the word "prochronistic" 🙂

[@stephenreeves9025]

@@zh84 it is a word "belonging to a later time" isn't it

[@mernokimuvek]

Its not a Ruhmkorff inductor. A Ruhmkorff inductor works like the igniton coil. This uses 2 resonant LC circuits, it a Tesla coil. I disagree with your comparison to aliexpress. This is everal orders of magnitude safer than most chinese phone chargers or extension cords sold cheaply.

[@chriselliott2485]

Having grown up by the coast and then moving to the Midlands I get a blast of nostalgia whenever there's a whiff of "ozone" (aka dimethyl sulphide) from a broken drain.

[@jeffreyyoung4104]

Hi Clive! I suspect the switch that turns off the vibrator is for AC current not needing the impulses to run the device. Other than that, it reminds me of my attempt at ozone generation, and I still remember the pungent smell! Once was all I needed to know I didn't want it filling my room with it!

[@hinspect]

Great Video! When first starting Electronics school, I made a negative ion generator circuit with an ignition coil from an old Chevrolet!

[@markfergerson2145]

Almost exactly the same circuit as the “Violet Ray” device I bought at a flea market some years back. Only difference is that the high voltage transformer is built into a sort of fat wand with a heavy cloth wrapped rubber insulated cord going back to the vibrator and capacitor. It originally came with a set of single electrode gas filled tubes (which I don’t have) and it generates quite a bit of ozone.

[@bigclivedotcom]

If you look on eBay for darsonval you can maybe find a newer version with glass electrodes that may be compatible.

[@gordslater]

Ironically this will probably help the muggy atmosphere in, for example, a teenage-designed low cost tourist sub.

[@christopherdesbaux5950]

This is my favorite video so far, I wish I could like it twice!

[@jackalovski1]

I would love to see you try and make one of these yourself using modern components

[@davidg4288]

I kind of did make one inadvertently. I made a "plasma globe" out of an incandescent light bulb and some high voltage, I had to try several clear bulbs to find one with the right gas in it, probably argon. I produced the high voltage using a DC power supply, an automotive ignition module, and a flyback transformer (aka line output transformer). It looks really good but produces too much ozone so I can't leave it on long.

[@johndododoe1411]

He didm years ago. His design was essentially a diode-capacitor voltage multiplier pumped by the mains frequency . Very simple solid state design with no coils or transistors .

[@saalkz.a.9715]

Mmmm, a fresh breeze of planktonfart 👾💨 😂

[@g8xft]

Interesting to see no interlock to prevent it running when open.

[@JHX1]

Wow, that is quite a lot of money for back then, could have been a nice trip and stay at the sea.. And.. "the Sickroom" got to love it!

[@theelmonk]

Lovely! |I've got a violet wand of similar vintage. Where did you find it ?

[@bigclivedotcom]

This one came from eBay a while ago.

[@liam3284]

In high school physics, we used such buzzing supplies to power crookes tubes and similar devices. The ran of bench supplies at ~8vdc. Surprising amount of voltage those things would throw out.

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

"Planktonfart." That's the name of my next doom-metal band!

[@teslasapple]

Mr Chumley Warner approves of this electrical contraption 👍

[@tncorgi92]

Scary 1920s headphones tester.

[@robertburrows6612]

It maybe old but it still works after all these years. I find it amusing how much old valve equipment is still going strong when there semiconductor cousins have given up

[@MrWitchblade]

You weren't kidding, that was sooooo loud. I like old kit like this, looks dangerous, and I supose this is. Very cool.

[@Waiting_To_Retire]

Ultrazone? Red Dwarf!

[@DavoidJohnson]

Good grief. A throw back that never got thrown.

[@iivin4233]

It's an old electronic warfare device.

[@tomlee812]

Even in the late 1950's and early 1960's I can remember my Mum plugging her iron and also our radio, into the light socket in the kitchen....