Ever wondered what an EV charger looked like 115 years ago? Wonder no more.
1908 EV battery charger technology.
- Thread starter Greenpeace
- Start date
Hi.
Interesting.
Several years ago during an open building weekend we enjoyed a tour of an electricity supply sub station in *Russel Place in Melbourne CBD. There were several large (old/original) transformers there and I vividly recall seeing the old mercury arc AC to DC rectifier operational. It would have been about 1 Mt diameter with many electrodes penetrating the glass and it supplied the DC current for the trams network. I recall it pulsating with glowing violet colours, it was fantastic to watch.
Also of interest they had a couple of transformers with the cooling oil being circulated to a portable moister removing machine. Apparently even a small percentage of moister in the cooling oil will be absorbed by the paper based insulation in the transformer windings and is the major cause of failure. I would not want to know the cost of rewinding a large 10' x 10' transformer, if in fact we could even do it in Australia anymore.
* Bar Ampere is an appropriately named bar, located adjacent to the sub station.
Cheers.
Interesting.
Several years ago during an open building weekend we enjoyed a tour of an electricity supply sub station in *Russel Place in Melbourne CBD. There were several large (old/original) transformers there and I vividly recall seeing the old mercury arc AC to DC rectifier operational. It would have been about 1 Mt diameter with many electrodes penetrating the glass and it supplied the DC current for the trams network. I recall it pulsating with glowing violet colours, it was fantastic to watch.
Also of interest they had a couple of transformers with the cooling oil being circulated to a portable moister removing machine. Apparently even a small percentage of moister in the cooling oil will be absorbed by the paper based insulation in the transformer windings and is the major cause of failure. I would not want to know the cost of rewinding a large 10' x 10' transformer, if in fact we could even do it in Australia anymore.
* Bar Ampere is an appropriately named bar, located adjacent to the sub station.
Cheers.
Hmm I like that great old gear. Laid out in a logical manner and obvious operation. Possibly some more shielding from the voltage for the operator might be considered better now-a-days 
I worked in an old lab that had 180V DC equipment and the old knife switches, motor soft starting resistor handles and copper bus bars etc. No mercury arc rectifiers though as it had a large AC-DC motor converter and also a sizable diesel-DC generator. No electronics ! We did build some more shields for the exposed DC on the boards !
Then I later worked on a ship that had serious 180V DC power for all ship power and equipment. Same old types of equipment in larger sizes. Boy that DC could burn back the fat wires for about 2" when it arced out to the steel ship if the insulation failed with the salt around.
Ahh the good ol'days.
Jaahn
I worked in an old lab that had 180V DC equipment and the old knife switches, motor soft starting resistor handles and copper bus bars etc. No mercury arc rectifiers though as it had a large AC-DC motor converter and also a sizable diesel-DC generator. No electronics ! We did build some more shields for the exposed DC on the boards !
Then I later worked on a ship that had serious 180V DC power for all ship power and equipment. Same old types of equipment in larger sizes. Boy that DC could burn back the fat wires for about 2" when it arced out to the steel ship if the insulation failed with the salt around.
Ahh the good ol'days.
Jaahn
Hi.
Interesting. You have mentioned 180V DC twice in different applications. I was not aware that 180V DC was a " * common" voltage.
I was aware that some older power stations used 250V? DC battery supply to get them started from "black".
* I didn't want to use the word "standard".
Cheers.
Interesting. You have mentioned 180V DC twice in different applications. I was not aware that 180V DC was a " * common" voltage.
I was aware that some older power stations used 250V? DC battery supply to get them started from "black".
* I didn't want to use the word "standard".
Cheers.
Hi.
Yes many farm and rural gen sets had a 32V DC battery bank, mainly for lighting.
Cheers.
I had a couple of DC tractor/motor driven welders, Lincoln and ?? that I made into a couple of battery chargers for some off grid friends that had big battery banks. EG 24V mine transporter battery units.
The instruction manuals for the welders did give some instructions for setting them up for 32 V charging as it was a common farm standard. And even suggested that they could "for example" power a tennis court or show ground quite happily at 32V DC for extended periods. They could certainly pump out 150-200A at 28V Ok for hours with a 4cyl diesel engine. Hmm wonder if they are still going as solar panels became the next step forward. Indeed there was one of these welders set up on the ship with a DC motor driving, for welding, and a couple of looong leads that reached every where.
Jaahn
I might get one and and set it up for an EV recovery charger ? DC fast charging possibly I must research that avenue !
The instruction manuals for the welders did give some instructions for setting them up for 32 V charging as it was a common farm standard. And even suggested that they could "for example" power a tennis court or show ground quite happily at 32V DC for extended periods. They could certainly pump out 150-200A at 28V Ok for hours with a 4cyl diesel engine. Hmm wonder if they are still going as solar panels became the next step forward. Indeed there was one of these welders set up on the ship with a DC motor driving, for welding, and a couple of looong leads that reached every where.
Jaahn
I might get one and and set it up for an EV recovery charger ? DC fast charging possibly
I must research that avenue !
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