General Information

Serial #

513

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

CAST IRON BASE AND BEARING BLOCKS, FIELD CORE ASSEMBLY AND NAME PLATES. LIFTING RING PROBABLY CAST STEEL. FIELD WINDINGS INSULATED COPPER WIRE. ARMATURE, STEEL SHAFT WITH LAMINATED STEEL CORE; INSULATED COPPER WIRE WINDINGS. COPPER COMMUTATOR WITH MICA OR SYNTHETIC INSULATION. BRONZE BEARINGS. LAMINATED COPPER BRUSHES BRASS BRUSH HOLDERS & BREAKER SWITCH; WOODEN PANELS ON WHICH CONTACTS & BREAKER SWITCH ARE MOUNTED

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

148.0 cm

Width

68.0 cm

Height

118.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Energy-electric

Category

Generation

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Edison

Country

United States of America

State/Province

New York

City

Schenectady

Context

Country

United States of America

State/Province

Pennsylvania

Period

THIS TYPE OF GENERATOR USED C.1883-1900. KNOWN TO BE IN USED IN 1887 IN SNELLENBURG STORE

Canada

FIRST EDISON GENERATOR INSTALLED IN CANADA WAS INSTALLED IN VANCOUVER BC, PROBABLY C.1882. IT WAS PROBABLY A TYPE L, ABLE TO LIGHT 150-EDISON CARBON FILAMENT 16 CANDLE POWER LAMPS (REF.#4). TWO NO.6 EDISON GENERATORS AMONG POWER EQ. USED TO OPERATE ELECTRIC LIGHT CENTRAL STATION AT VICTORIA, BC IN 1891 (REF.5)

Function

TO CONVERT ROTARY MECHANICAL ENERGY INTO DIRECT CURRENT ELECTRICAL ENERGY. SPECIFICALLY USED TO GENERATE POWER FOR ELECTRIC LIGHTING.

Technical

NO.6 EDISON GENERATOR IS 15 KILOWATT CAPACITY, 125 VOLT BIPOLAR COMPOUND WOUND UNIT, ABLE TO PROVIDE POWER TO 270-112 V. 16 CANDLE POWER LAMPS (REF. #1). IT IS AN IMPROVED VERSION OF THE 1ST BI-POLAR DYNAMO INVENTED BY EDISON, NICKNAMED 'LONG-WAISTED MARY-ANN' BECAUSE OF TWIN MAGNETS RISING UP FROM BASE (REF.#6). EDISON'S GENERATOR, ANNOUNCED PUBLICLY IN OCT.18,1879 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, COULD PRODUCE CONSTANT VOLTAGE OF 110 VOLTS & WAS 90 PER CENT EFFICIENT IN CONVERTING STEAM POWER INTO ELECTRICITY - 2 TO 3 TIMES AS EFFICIENT AS ANY DYNAMO BUILT UP TO THAT TIME.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

MFR'S PLATE ON ONE SIDE OF GENERATOR READS: 'EDISON MACHINE WORKS/ BUILDERS/ SCHENECTADY, N.Y./ 6/ NO.513'/ PLATE ON OPPOSITE SIDE READS: 'EDISON ELECTRIC LIGHT CO/ PATENTED/ DEC 23 1879 AUG 22 1882/ SEPT 19 1882 OCT 10 1882'. 'THE HYDRO/ HISTORICAL/ ELECTRICAL/ COLLECTION' PRINTED ON DECAL APPLIED TO GENERATOR TOP. DYMO LABELS APPLIED TO GENERATOR [BY HYDRO] READ 'COMPOUND' & 'MC.3.8'/ 'NO 6 DIV 48 W' STAMPED INTO METAL COLLAR NEAR COMMUNTATOR, OPPOSITE COILS/ NUMBERS '1' THROUGH '7' STAMPED INTO VARIOUS CONTACT POINTS IN BREAK-CIRCUIT

Missing

TWO BRUSHES. MINOR FITTNGS, IE) SCREWS, ETC. MISSING

Finish

PRIMARILY BLACK WITH RED-ORANGE FIELD ASSEMBLY HOUSING [ABOVE & BELOW COILS]. NATURAL COPPER FINISH ON COMMUTATOR.

Decoration

N/A