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Ingenium, 1992.2461.001
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OBJECT TYPE: knife/double pole/throw/fuseless
DATE: 1905
ARTIFACT NUMBER: 1992.2461.001

MANUFACTURER: General Electric Co.
MODEL: 36846
LOCATION: United States of America

More Information

General Information

Serial #: N/A
Part Number: 1
Total Parts: 1
AKA: N/A
Patents: N/A
General Description: porcelain base/ copper & brass parts/synthetic crossbar

Dimensions

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

Length: 7.7 cm
Width: 6.6 cm
Height: 3.8 cm
Thickness: N/A
Weight: N/A
Diameter: N/A
Volume: N/A

Lexicon

Group: Energy-electric
Category: User site
Sub-Category: N/A

Manufacturer

AKA: General Electric
Country: United States of America
State/Province: Unknown
City: Unknown

Context

Country: North America
State/Province: Unknown
Period: early 20th century
Canada: An American made switch of a type used in Canada. Part of a large & varied collection of over 7500 electrical items acquired & documented by Ontario Hydro in the 1960s. The collection was thought to be the largest & most comprehensive of its kind in Canada & was donated to the National Museum of Science & Technology in 1992.
Function: An electrical wiring device used to make or break a connection in an electrical circuit.
Technical: Example of a knife switch. At first, all knife switches were mounted on wood or slate panels (later on porcelain) but although these bases were fairly efficient electrically, they were not really suitable for house service work. They were replaced in distributing panels by push button switches (Ref. 1)
Area Notes: Unknown

Details

Markings: raised lettering on base reads "G.E. CO. U.S.A./ CAT. NO. 36846/ 15 AMP. 125 VOLT."
Missing: appears complete
Finish: partially glazed white base/ copper & gold coloured metal/ black crossbar
Decoration: N/A

CITE THIS OBJECT

If you choose to share our information about this collection object, please cite:

General Electric Co., Switch, circa 1905, Artifact no. 1992.2461, Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, http://collections.ingeniumcanada.org/en/id/1992.2461.001/

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