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Other Vintage Household Electrical or Electromechanical Items For discussions about other vintage (over 25 years old) electrical and electromechanical household items. See the sticky thread for details. |
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28th Jul 2017, 10:41 pm | #1 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.
Hi all.
I've Googled for ever and a day but still I can't find anything remotely resembling this. The base & top are cast iron with stone effect enamel, the body enamelled steel with no markings whatsoever. Any thoughts/insights would be most welcomed, even what I should word it as in a Google search would be very useful! Thanks, Gill. |
28th Jul 2017, 11:14 pm | #2 |
Dekatron
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
Hi Gill, welcome to the forum, Nice heater. Is there a makers plate, maybe on the back that you can take a photo of ?
Edit, I see you say no markings, strange, is there a patch where it was once ? John. Last edited by 60 oldjohn; 28th Jul 2017 at 11:19 pm. |
28th Jul 2017, 11:28 pm | #3 |
Dekatron
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
An oddity, for sure! The base seems to show the Egyptian design influence that wasn't much seen except around 1930, but everything else suggests mid to late '50s to me.
Is that just a hole beneath the fire bar? I can't think why it would be a good place for one, possibly a manufacturer's badge would have been there once. I take it you've already checked for an information plate underneath as well as at the back. Paul |
29th Jul 2017, 12:17 pm | #4 |
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
Thanks for your response/interest.
The cast base has `PATT No 2400/15` on it...other than that no signs of anything either internally or externally. The hole at the front actually contains a 15W red pigmy bulb which glows, presumably as a warning, when the hotplate is alive. The original power flex was 2-core with no Earth...now updated to three & safely Earthed.. |
29th Jul 2017, 12:40 pm | #5 |
Pentode
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Halesworth, Suffolk, UK.
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
The ceramic knob looks like GEC to me, I've got the same on my oven, which isa GEC 'MAGNET' from the late '30s. Creda used a very similar knob, but of slightly different proportions. If all else fails, give us some dimensions and I'll check them against the GEC and Creda knobs. If GEC, there will probably be little horseshoe electromagnet trademarks stamped on many of the components. Does the top hinge up to give access to the plug in hot plate? They may well have a maker's mark on them.
Oliver |
29th Jul 2017, 2:59 pm | #6 |
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
Reminiscent of the early "Baby Belling" hot plates, they used that type of knob too.
They usually have the name printed in the enamel on the front, could it of been cleaned off? Sam. |
29th Jul 2017, 4:20 pm | #7 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
Had a good look with an inspection lamp & magnifying glass & definitely no markings or any signs of where one might have originally been.
The top surface lifts off removing the six screws but it helps none in terms of marks/identification. The fuse holder is the only component marked...unless the switch & main terminal block are marked where I'm unable to see without dismantling. No apparent markings on underside of hot plate....a few numbers to the rear of the fire elements. The knob has no mark & measures approx. 35mm x 22mm x 22mm depth. Thanks again for the input here...much appreciated. Gill |
29th Jul 2017, 6:20 pm | #8 |
Pentode
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
If you look closely, there's a magnet symbol cast into the porcelain of the fuse, top right hand corner. 'MAGNET' was the GEC brand trademark.
Oliver |
29th Jul 2017, 6:58 pm | #9 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
Si...I did notice the mark, as per what you mentioned earlier Oliver....but does this suggest that the whole is a GEC product or that GEC fuse holders were common to many electrical products back whenever?
Cheers/Gill |
29th Jul 2017, 7:23 pm | #10 |
Heptode
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
The fuseholder might be GEC but I suspect there were a lot of small light engineering companies turning out this sort of thing from bought-in components and in-house metalworking.
The metalwork might be made post-war with 1950s components but made on pre-war tooling as factories came out of munitions production. |
29th Jul 2017, 8:22 pm | #11 |
Dekatron
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
The cables look like asbestos. Take care when it's exposed.
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29th Jul 2017, 8:45 pm | #12 |
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
That PATT NO is probably a casting pattern number not a patent number. The fuse is certainly a GEC part, brand NEATA.
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29th Jul 2017, 9:23 pm | #13 | |
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
Quote:
The control seems to only allow heater or hotplate either to reduce the maximum current demand or stop you getting too hot while cooking! |
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29th Jul 2017, 9:27 pm | #14 |
Nonode
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
I suspect that this might be French, or made in the UK for the French market.
It seems rather odd to combine a radiant room heating element with a hotplate, but perhaps the radiant element is also intended for cooking. For roasting in front of an electric element instead of an open fire. In France there is more of a tradition of roasting small birds whole in front of a heat source, whereas here we would favour cooking in an oven. To this day, rural French hardware stores sell small wire holders intended to contain say a duck or pigeon in order that it may be roasted whole upon a spit, usually turned by clockwork or battery power. I have seen a similar looking appliance but powered by LPG rather than electricity, it was in use by a French family camping in the UK. |
29th Jul 2017, 10:19 pm | #15 |
Dekatron
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
I think that this sort of combined heater and hotplate was not uncommon in the pre-war era. I remember that my granny (who died in 1953) had a combined electric radiant fire and hot plate with a triangular sheet metal housing that fitted nicely in the corner of her bedroom, powered from a 15A socket.
Last edited by emeritus; 29th Jul 2017 at 10:24 pm. |
29th Jul 2017, 10:52 pm | #16 | |
Octode
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
Quote:
Colin. (Incidentally, my name means a type of fish in French). |
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30th Jul 2017, 10:15 am | #17 |
Retired Dormant Member
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
When I was a wee nipper (late 50's/early 60's) my granddad worked as an engineer for British Rail & an uncle as a train driver.
I was regularly treated to visits to see the steam trains & new diesel's at Stratford in E London & even get rides up front. I can vaguely recall that the hut/mess where co-workers hung out had something like this in it....something to warm your hands/butt, keep a kettle on the go & warm the space up a bit. That this particular one runs either but not both kinda confuses the idea.....but I'm still left wondering that if only I knew how to address it correctly then I'd be able to Goggle it & come up with too many rather than the zilch found thus far. Heater/hob....fire/hot plate doesn't do the trick. Perhaps you might Google your own idea's and find that illusive result? Cheers/Gill |
30th Jul 2017, 11:42 am | #18 |
Nonode
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
I tried this Google search:
GEC vintage electric (heater,toaster,radiator,fire) (hot plate,cooker) cast iron - interesting results but not quite what you want I wonder if a similar search (in French) on google.fr might be more fruitful
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30th Jul 2017, 12:29 pm | #19 |
Dekatron
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
Not able to help with identifying the maker, but the overall style reminds me of something I saw in a National Trust property ages ago, where it was installed in an attic [laughably described as the "Servants quarters"].
I guess it was there to stop the housemaid freezing to death and also to allow her to make a quick cup of tea before starting work at 05:30 preparing breakfast for the rest of the household. |
30th Jul 2017, 1:18 pm | #20 |
Dekatron
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Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate
The "either hotplate or fire" switching arrangement could have been to allow operation from a 5A socket.
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