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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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23rd Nov 2019, 2:55 am | #1 |
Octode
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Southampton, Hampshire, UK.
Posts: 1,051
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Electroniques battery charger kit ?
While casually browsing on the internet, I recently came across these pictures of Electroniques kit manuals. Last year I had picked up a rusty and broken battery charger without a manufacturer's label from a car boot sale. Finding the battery charger picture helped me identify it as a Knight kit one. The battery charger was restored and converted to a bench PSU !
I wonder if anyone else on the forum has one of these chargers or even the kit radio as seen in the picture ? The charger has a 0-5 A ammeter on it. What sort of battery would it have been designed for ? |
23rd Nov 2019, 3:14 am | #2 |
Dekatron
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Greater Manchester, UK.
Posts: 18,676
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Re: Electroniques battery charger kit ?
I imagine it's a transformer, metal rectifier, moving-iron meter in a steel case of the type often used to trickle-charge a car battery.
My memory of Electroniques was not altogether positive. As a child I had built something or other, it might have been a "Q Multiplier" with their colourful range of coils, I think they had a lock-nut at the top . As I didn't have the correct plastic hex trimming tool, inevitably I cracked the cores. I wrote to STC who had acquired the company asking for some replacements, and was quoted a price that exceeded the coils themselves. My dad wrote and asked them how they could justify it, I think they said it was a mistake and quoted a more reasonable price.
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23rd Nov 2019, 4:22 am | #3 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, USA.
Posts: 823
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Re: Electroniques battery charger kit ?
Quote:
It's possible that the Electroniques firm bought the name and the parts inventory. I have a couple of the SWL receivers shown in the illustration. It was known as the "Star-Roamer". Not great, a regular four valve plus metal rectifier superhet design. AFAIK They never offered a battery charger of that type in the US. Dave, USradcoll1. |
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23rd Nov 2019, 12:18 pm | #4 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Leominster, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 16,528
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Re: Electroniques battery charger kit ?
That charger bears more than a passing resemblance to my ITT one, bought in the staff shop at the ITT-KB factory in St Leonards, Hastings in 1971. The outer case is moulded plastic (polypropylene?) and the works apart from the meter are mounted on a pressed steel chassis that forms the back and bottom of the case.
It's seen a fair bit of (ab)use over the last 50 odd years including several replacement rectifiers! I'm not sure the meter's original, either. Not quite Trigger's Broom, but getting there
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23rd Nov 2019, 2:23 pm | #5 |
Octode
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Southampton, Hampshire, UK.
Posts: 1,051
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Re: Electroniques battery charger kit ?
Here is my unit with its selenium rectifier, transformer and ammeter removed. The plastic/polypropylene case is not of the greatest quality and it is prone to cracking under a moderate amount of stress. I patched up the hole where the ammeter used to be with pieces of plastic cut out off a washing liquid tablet. I like the solid steel base though, but it was very difficult to drill through it when mounting a new transformer. My new PSU is virtually RF noise-free and goes from 1.2 to 24V continuous. I still need to add a voltage indicator dial to it...and maybe a replica Electroniques label ☺
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23rd Nov 2019, 5:50 pm | #6 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, USA.
Posts: 823
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Re: Electroniques battery charger kit ?
Quote:
I never bought one new, but from swap meets. I'm trying to remember if it has a BFO circuit. It probably does. Dave, USradcoll1. I seldom seen a radio I didn't like. |
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