I am very fortunate in that I volunteer (albeit very rarely, about 2 hours a month!) doing PAT Testing for a local charity, in an area that is known for its...older...population.
So among all the TV's, kitchen equipment, and general useless disposable stuff that gets handed in, I do find quite a few charmers. And the benefit of doing this, is that I am allowed to keep anything deemed unsuitable for sale. As a form of payment.
So today I collected an immaculate Belling Champion. And I mean it...it's mint. These things seemed to end up getting used in damp workshops and covered in paint in their latter years. This one seems to have lived a fairly dry and clean life.
The only damage was wear at the flex inlet. It had worn through to the copper of the Neutral. Inside was clean, and contained a CFL bulb so recent use has been had.
Question One:
When do these date from? I know they made the parrafin version which I believe came as early as the 1930's, the electric following soon after. I saw reference on here however to electric production finishing in 1950. However, I'm not sure. If you look at my photos you will see the cardboard tag underneath states that it complies to British Electrical Standards. I have no idea but this looks newer than a 1950's item. As for the wiring, the flex was to post 1970 colours, however this could have been a replacement item (however it was terminated super neatly, and even had rubber sleeves at each end over the fabric outer instead of a few wraps of PVC tape!). The internal cabling looked...different but not necessarily older. The flex inlet was a more modern style plastic clamp, and the cutout in the side for this was clearly done in the factory.
Question Two:
That toggle switch. Not much seems to be separating the toggle from live. Have other people restoring these replaced them? I shall be adding a few extra earth points to this device so should be OK, but still, I'm never 100% with these old switches.
Sorry for the long post, but I hope it was of interest. Incidentally I fired it up on my workbench and my god...the heat it throws out is incredible for such a low power device!
All the best
