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Old 11th Jan 2020, 11:10 pm   #1
bionicmerlin
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Default We are the Champions

I have these 2 heaters the largest one is 1500 w and the smaller is 750w
The large heater has been in the family for as long as I can remember. Infact I could never work out why it was a bronze brown colour.last year i disided it was time to fit a new flex and give it a clean. To my surprise the brown colour was nicotine my grandad with his pipe obviously to blame, hiding its silver coat .in a way I wish I hadn’t cleaned it because brown is how I always remember it
The small heater I got last week from a fle market for £2 ..I’m just about to put a nice new cotton flex on it and get it working.
Can anyone date these heaters .i would guess the largest is late 50s
But the small one I’m Not sure . It has a do not cover label and the heat switch has a part plastic sleeve moulded into it . New colour flex but maybe that’s been changed. I would guess one of the last made but if anyone has dates that would be nice to know. Thanks Andy
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Old 11th Jan 2020, 11:22 pm   #2
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Default Re: We are the Champions

Plenty of enthusiasts for those here! Dating generally won't be precise as after the first Champions (late '30s, early '40s) design changes came slowly, but Brigham's second post in this thread

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=130516

summarises some of the available info. Our Champions are having an easier life now we're in a flat with storage radiators, but they're still in work for local warmth when required, even (actually, especially) the somewhat lethal No.1 at the end of that old thread. I've no recent acquisitions except an apparently hardly used 92A still in its box.

Paul
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Old 14th Jan 2020, 11:03 am   #3
Brigham
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Default Re: We are the Champions

Has the 91A lost its bail, or is it just folded down out of sight?
On the late ones, it just clips into two holes in the top cover, and is often lost.
You'll probably acquire other examples for parts, if the enthusiasm bites. I started with one 92A, and now have Belling products all over the place.

Fine looking cat, by the way.

Brigham.
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Old 14th Jan 2020, 11:59 am   #4
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Smile Re: We are the Champions

Hi,
I have a Belling heater like the smaller one. It has a metal mesh in the base and no cast metal parts. All sheet steel.
Remarkably efficient, but had an appetite for 15 watt pygmy lamps, probably with being moved around, knocked over (which usually trips the RCD). etc.
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 14th Jan 2020, 4:31 pm   #5
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Default Re: We are the Champions

Thanks for the messages. Silly me I thought the small one didn’t have a handle,so yes mine is missing and yes it looks like it just clips in.
The heater has cleaned up quite well . I have put a new cotton covered .75mm flex on it, heat proof sleeving ,new heat proof silicone cable to the lamp holder ,with a nice old MK plug top on the end of the flex.Not ideal but I squeezed a fire glow lamp in it.
It’s also been fully checked by our in house safety inspector Rosie. She likes to keep an eye on projects from start to finish. Especially if they give off heat.
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Old 15th Jan 2020, 10:44 am   #6
Brigham
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Default Re: We are the Champions

Nice to see the cotton-covered flex and brown plug. These are the touches that make the whole thing 'right'.
The original Belling lamp wasn't a pygmy type. It was much the same shape as a fireglow, but with a more dense orange coating. It was marked 'Belling', which can easily be arranged if you are buying by the thousand.
I experiment with different red or orange lamps; it's interesting, if a bit whimsical. Someone mentioned the ex-Admiralty submarine bulbs, which are an amazing deep red. I wish I could find a supply of them.
Don't try green; it looks like a particularly vivid nightmare!

B.
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Old 15th Jan 2020, 2:39 pm   #7
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Default Re: We are the Champions

Wow those bring back memories of when i was a small boy.
I used to get my hair cut in a shed at the bottom of a garden when i was about 4 years old and the only heat was from one of those heaters!!
No idea why i had my hair cut in a shed but was probably something to do with my dad knowing someone who cut hair on the side hahaha.
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Old 15th Jan 2020, 2:53 pm   #8
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Default Re: We are the Champions

Interesting about the bulbs, I didn’t know Belling had a custom lamp. In the old days well about 40 years ago when I was an apprentice I used to often get the job of replacing the flexes on these . I seen assorts of odd lamps in them . I think we used to put red pigmy lamps in as a replacement. Not knowing any better. We never had any trouble with the heaters it was just the flex Andy
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Old 15th Jan 2020, 3:02 pm   #9
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Smile Re: We are the Champions

Hi,
My heater was rescued from a hospital office clear out in the 70s, and has TRS flex. I can't remember clearly, but I think it had a Wylex type stackable plug fitted.
On getting it home, I fitted a white MK switched plug, which had done sterling service for many years controlling a 4Kw Immersion heater. It now has a french plug with an in line switch.
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 15th Jan 2020, 3:23 pm   #10
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Default Re: We are the Champions

Very nice, the cat likes it too. Do they have an over temperature trip? Another query, if it came with an unsleeved plug as original equipment can it be sold with the same one on. If so does replacing the flex allow the use of the old (proper) plug to be retained.
 
Old 15th Jan 2020, 3:58 pm   #11
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Default Re: We are the Champions

There's no sort of trip that I'm aware of, then it would take extraordinary circumstances to start a conflagration even if one were knocked over and left. This generation (91A/92A) have a flat rim at the top and usually a warning not to cover it, older versions have a ribbed top to provide ventilation if used with a pan or kettle.
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Old 15th Jan 2020, 5:00 pm   #12
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Default Re: We are the Champions

Ah, intrinsically safe, what a good idea (he chuckles).
 
Old 15th Jan 2020, 10:01 pm   #13
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Default Re: We are the Champions

Belling claimed these heaters were safe in the presence of children, and couldn't cause harm even if knocked over. See the attached page from their 1961 catalogue.

I must say I like these heaters. I have a 91A, 92A and an 83A model as listed in the catalogue. The design is simple but very effective. Air flows through the heater fast enough to prevent it getting too hot. There's no noisy fan either, in fact pretty much nothing to go wrong. Old ones frequently turn up in car boot sales, still working after decades. Just about the only thing that usually needs replacing is the original rubber insulated mains cable. The only other major problem is rust, if the heater has been stored in a damp environment.

The Belling Champion remained in production for a long time (beginning in the 1930s), with subtle design changes over the years. I'm not sure exactly when they were discontinued but I came across one with serial number 71/xxxxxx so possibly made in 1971 (it had the new colour-coded mains wiring).
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