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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Kyabram. Vic
    Posts
    632

    Default I'm bored & old contactor switch

    "Are we there yet?" I'm bored already with this sitting around. For those who don't know I had my second dose (in 5 weeks) of surgery on Friday and received another 3 stents. First op was to repair 2 crushed stents from previous ops. A week or so later another heart artery began to get crushed until it collapsed. Home next day; 20 years ago it was a death sentence.

    Anyway; took another stroll over to the shed this afternoon for my version of cardiac rehab. Hopefully attached is a pic of an old magnetic contactor switch. It may well have come out of the 'ark'. Actually was removed from my 1954 or so Macson shaper and replaced with a modern type. The old one chattered more than my wife but when physically bridged worked as designed. May well not be compatible with the rotary phase convertor. The new one slams in and sounds like a car crash.

    Is it of any use to someone? otherwise I will donate it to land fill.

    That's all folks; I am back off to be bored.

    Ken

    001.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    4,779

    Default

    Hi ken you got a pic of the shaper. Just out of interest?

    I got a macson shaper and although i have no use for the contactor I would like to work out the approx age of my shaper.

    Heres a pic a 2 more contactors just for giggles!

    I doubt they would chatter as much as my wife!

    Cheers

    Simon
    Girl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that." I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightning babe? That's all right with me. I'm good. I'm good.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Vermont 3133 Victoria
    Posts
    248

    Default Chin up thoughts with you

    Hang in there mate, rough roads smooth out.
    Cheers
    Bruce

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    4,779

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by argeng View Post
    Hang in there mate, rough roads smooth out.
    Cheers
    Bruce
    Yea that too. What Bruce said!
    Girl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that." I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightning babe? That's all right with me. I'm good. I'm good.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Perth WA
    Age
    71
    Posts
    6,458

    Default

    Stay bored for a bit longer Ken.

    Your heart and your health are the prime concern, the other stuff can wait.

    Bob.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Kyabram. Vic
    Posts
    632

    Default

    Thanks for the well wishes.


    I don't know whether to believe you or not Simon; you just want my 'treasure'.

    As to the Macson. let the search feature be your friend. I got over the boredom for a while and started through the "show us your shaper thread"' #179 and #240.

    The numbers are stamped on the top of the gearbox near the selectors. I think it was RC who posted an old MacPhersons catalogue from the 50's displaying the same unit.

    Ken

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Victoria
    Posts
    58

    Default

    All the best Toggy keep on ticking

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Bendigo Victoria
    Age
    80
    Posts
    7,471

    Default

    Hang in there Ken, seems to me that boredom beats the alternative.

    Doesn't seem much fun being dead

    Amazing what they can do with those stents these days, DAMHIKT.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    4,779

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Toggy View Post
    Thanks for the well wishes.


    I don't know whether to believe you or not Simon; you just want my 'treasure'.

    As to the Macson. let the search feature be your friend. I got over the boredom for a while and started through the "show us your shaper thread"' #179 and #240.

    The numbers are stamped on the top of the gearbox near the selectors. I think it was RC who posted an old MacPhersons catalogue from the 50's displaying the same unit.

    Ken
    Thanks Ken. Mine looks very similar to that. I'm assuming a similar vintage.

    Simon
    Girl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that." I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightning babe? That's all right with me. I'm good. I'm good.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    493

    Default

    I am confused. Is that the photo of the stent?
    Civilized man is the only animal clever enough to manufacture its own food,
    and the only animal stupid enough to eat it.
    Barry Groves

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Kyabram. Vic
    Posts
    632

    Default

    So much for the new contactor switch. It's toast.

    I have only used the shaper in small bursts since having the magnetic contactor switch replaced with a new unit (marked for use on 11kw motor; I have a 2.2kw.)

    It got a bit bigger workout today on a light duty job. I could smell a very hot plastic smell that has not been apparent before. Opened the electrics box to be met with smoke rising out of the new contactor. Luckily the job was finished. The the outer plastic case of the contactor was too hot to keep your hand on; but the temperature breaker switch attached to it was cool as.

    I wonder if the insulation in the windings of the old 3hp 3ph motor are breaking down? Motor runs OK and does not trip the breaker switch on the RPC. The motor is marked as 4.26amps per line and has not shut down the RPC with any excessive current draw.

    The D.I.L. is kidding at this very moment; so will be away for a few days. I will dissect the contactor switch when I get back. The switch did not drop out so the 240V coil must still be OK.

    Ken

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    N.W.Tasmania
    Posts
    1,407

    Default

    Congratulations Grandpa, I hope that all has gone well with the D.I.L. and I hope that your health quickly returns to normal. That magnetic contactor looks very similar to a 3 phase contactor my father had on our pump when I was a kid. The middle phase is missing on yours, but they were a very reliable switch. Years later a sparky retired next door, and he said that they were very common in industry, and you could renew the silver contacts with a thruppence if needed, he had done that numerous times rather than wait to get the genuine replacement. Dear old Eugene said that they would last forever, but the arrival of decimal currency and the removal of silver from our coinage has changed the situation somewhat. If you end up sending it to the tip, you ought remove the silver contacts first.
    I've just had a thought, perhaps you could change the coil to a DC setup and incorporate a small stepdown transformer and bridge rectifier to cut the 50Hz hum, if your new contactors don't work out. Just wondering if a loose terminal was the culprit in toasting that one also. All the best,
    Rob

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Country West Oz
    Age
    77
    Posts
    169

    Default

    The old contactor is an AD40, we used heaps of them when I was an apprentice.(shows how old I am)
    They were only fitted with 2 overload heaters, the theory was that if there was an overload on the non heater phase, it would in turn
    create suffient excess current in the other phases to trip the contactor, not very precise, but they were very robust.
    Regards
    Bradford

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Victoria, Australia
    Age
    74
    Posts
    5,080

    Default

    You should come and pay us a visit, you can be bored over here instead of over there.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    N.W.Tasmania
    Posts
    1,407

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BRADFORD View Post
    The old contactor is an AD40, we used heaps of them when I was an apprentice.(shows how old I am)
    They were only fitted with 2 overload heaters, the theory was that if there was an overload on the non heater phase, it would in turn
    create suffient excess current in the other phases to trip the contactor, not very precise, but they were very robust.
    Many thanks for that Bradford, AD40 does ring a bell, I was just a kid when my dad had to get the motor on our Ajax A3 pump rewound after a brown-out. The original switch was just that, no motor protection at all, and he had the new magnetic contractor installed. I was far too young to have any involvement, and assumed that all three phases had overload heaters. I lost my dad nearly ten years ago, though my mum still lives on the place she and dad bought in 1955, when I was 5. I'm not sure if that ad40 still does duty there or not as my youngest brother is a sparky and the Ajax has been replaced with a centrifugal pump and the motor has also been changed. I do remember though one great advantage the AD 40 had for us was when the tank began to overflow, we no longer had to run the 250 metres to switch the pump off, we could just briefly switch it off at the meter box at the house, and when we switched it back on again at the meter box, the magnetic contractor did its thing and leaving the motor off, but ready to be started next time after we had re primed the line to the foot valve. Thanks for reminding me of those times long ago,
    Rob.

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