UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Mercury Arc Rectifier

kalee20 · 1st Feb 2019, 2:26 pm

Just thinking, crudely, can't you get it to light with a decent DC arc welding kit, with a short-circuit current of 40A or so? Assuming the arc welding set has some output inductance so that current does not fall to zero twice each cycle. Lucien says it is tilt-start, so keep the cathode as common, connect the starting anode and another anode together by a temporary link, switch on with the bulb tilted, swivel back to break the mercury path, and then disconnect the starting electrode.

Obviously this would give a continuous discharge to one anode only, so heat generated would be concentrated and not spread around. So not a good idea to run for more than a minute or so, unless current is kept low. But you'd see it 'alive!'

However, I'd strongly suggest that Ounce1966 does a lot of homework first!

1st Feb 2019, 2:26 pm	#15
kalee20 Dekatron Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lynton, N. Devon, UK. Posts: 7,078	Re: Mercury Arc Rectifier - How... Just thinking, crudely, can't you get it to light with a decent DC arc welding kit, with a short-circuit current of 40A or so? Assuming the arc welding set has some output inductance so that current does not fall to zero twice each cycle. Lucien says it is tilt-start, so keep the cathode as common, connect the starting anode and another anode together by a temporary link, switch on with the bulb tilted, swivel back to break the mercury path, and then disconnect the starting electrode. Obviously this would give a continuous discharge to one anode only, so heat generated would be concentrated and not spread around. So not a good idea to run for more than a minute or so, unless current is kept low. But you'd see it 'alive!' However, I'd strongly suggest that Ounce1966 does a lot of homework first!