Electrical appliance

“ Of all books recently published on practical electricity for the youthful electricians, it is doubtful if there is even one among them that is more suited to this field. This work is recommended to every one interested in electricity and the making of electrical appliances. ”

“ In the infancy of the science no country produced more electricians than Germany; in the discovery and exposition of its subtlest laws, as well as in their application to useful purposes, no country has done more than England; while in the most novel and most extensive use of electrical appliances for industrial purposes the New World may be said to have outstripped the Old. ”

“ On account of this very low electrical pressure all danger from the current is eliminated and the apparatus may be handled with the same freedom as any ordinary metal-working machine. In the distribution of the electrical appliances the current is usually generated by a machine conveniently located with reference to the source of power, and the current carried by wires to the welders, where the transformation takes place, each welder being provided with its own converter, proportioned so as to supply the character of current best suited to the special work of the machine. ”

“ Because the electric iron seems to have been the forerunner of electrical appliances for the home, it is well first to describe briefly the processes of manufacture necessary before the iron can be placed in the home and take its position as one of the modern labor-saving devices. ”

“ So you see, the woman of today who utilizes current furnished through the light socket, can bring to her command genii as wonderful as those at the command of Aladdin when he stroked the wonderful lamp. Her household duties are made easier. There is far less preparatory work and she is able to place her home on a much more efficient basis than with ordinary methods.
Electric Aluminum Comfo
The home electrical is not complete without containing at least some of the electrical appliances which have been designed for the purpose of alleviating pain. ”

“ A pure lighting service tends toward the larger ratio between the average and maximum load, while a larger motor capacity along with the lamps, tends to reduce the ratio. Furthermore, by far the greater part of the energy output of an electrical supply system during each twenty-four hours must be delivered between noon and midnight. ”

“ It is not our purpose here to describe at length the electrical machine, but we may state that it consists of two parts, one for generating electricity by means of the friction of a rubber against glass, and another consisting of a system of brass tubes, of considerable surface, supported on glass stems, for collecting and retaining the electricity so produced. ”

“ When the center of distribution is at a considerable distance from the supply circuit, and it becomes advisable to divide the wiring into two distinct elements—a feeder and one or more mains, the junction of the feeder and the mains should be located at the electrical center of the mains whenever possible. ”

“ In an apparatus for lighting gas by electricity, a wire through which a current of electricity is passed, having electrical connections with an electro-magnet attracting an armature, which armature actuates mechanism operating automatically to turn off the gas and extinguish the light. ”

“ With electricity the family could use a radio, rid themselves of smoky kerosene lighting and enjoy the use of more efficient and cleaner stoves and refrigeration. The pragmatic desire for electrical equipment to operate milking machines and water pumps was intensified by advertisements such as one which appeared in the Herndon News-Observer claiming that electricity would make life "convenient and happy" as well as add fifteen to twenty years to the farm woman's life. ”

“ The electrical machines in common use are composed of a hollow glass cylinder, or circular plate of glass, turning on an axis, and rubbing against two or more leather rubbers covered with silk, the electricity being collected by sharp points fixed in a metal rod standing on a glass pillar. ”

“ The rapid progress that has been made of late years in the application of electricity to industrial purposes, and particularly in the transmission of power by means of the electric motor, has made it imperative for every engineer who wishes to keep up to date to have some knowledge of the way electrical currents are controlled and used for practical purposes. ”

“ Replace it, and let the cylinder be again wiped; the machine is fit for use.
4. Sometimes the electric matter will not be well collected, because the machine is not sufficiently supplied with it from the earth; which happens, when the table upon which the electrical machine is placed and to which the chain or wire of the rubber is connected, is very dry, and consequently a bad conductor. In this case, the best method is to connect the chain or wire of the rubber with some moist ground, or with the iron-work of a water-pump, if convenient. ”

“ All wires and current carrying parts should be kept far enough apart at all points to prevent accidental contact or the jumping across of the 428 current where there is a great difference of voltage. Such wires should be also kept at a sufficient distance from screw heads, metal brackets, gas pipes, water pipes, and other conducting bodies, in order to prevent accidental grounds or short circuits. ”

“ At the same time that the wire and top of the bottle, &c. is electrised positively or plus, the bottom of the bottle is electrised negatively or minus, in exact proportion: i. e. whatever quantity of electrical fire is thrown in at top, an equal quantity goes out of the bottom. To understand this, suppose the common quantity of Electricity in each part of the bottle, before the operation begins, is equal to 20; and at every stroke of the tube, suppose a quantity equal to 1 is thrown in ”

“ We can easily construct other electrical apparatus. Take a lacquered tea-tray about a foot long, and cut out a sheet of thick wrapping paper so that it will lie over all the level portion of the tray. At each side of this sheet of paper fix two bands of paper, as in Fig. 2, so as to serve as handles. The tea-tray should be placed upon two tumblers to support it and to insulate it, glass being a "non-conductor." By a non-conductor is meant a substance that will not convey electricity, or allow it to pass away. ”

“ Remember that electricity, magic as it is, can burn as well as any flame, so don’t let your curtains blow against a red hot electric radiator and then blame it on the electricity which after all is your servant if you make it so by right treatment.
Always ask your salesman to what the device purchased should be attached. Some things are designed for the ordinary lamp socket, and others need different connections.
Many electric appliances have the pilot light to tell you whether your electric current is on or off. Yet it is wise to be your own pilot and remember what you are doing. ”

“ If the tube be exhausted of air, a non electric lining in contact with the wire is not necessary; for in vacuo, the electrical fire will fly freely from {78}the inner surface, without a non-electric conductor: but air resists its motion; for being itself an electric per se, it does not attract it, having already its quantity. ”

“ Every one knows that when by means of an ordinary electrical machine electricity has been generated in sufficient quantity and under suitable conditions to prevent its dispersion, a spark of intense brilliancy and greater or less length, according to the amount of electricity thus collected, can be obtained when some body, not similarly electrified, is brought near to what is called the conductor of the machine. ”

“ If the needle can be soldered to a metal stand, or the cork covered with tinfoil, the wire is not needed. On rubbing the paper and placing it on the tray, the electricity passes up the wire into the needle, thence into the wire cross, and escapes by the bent portions of the wires, each of which should be filed to a point. In escaping it electrifies the surrounding air, and this, according to the law that “like electricities repel each other,” has a reacting force on the wire arms. Accordingly the windmill begins to turn, and may attain a tolerable rate of speed if the tray is strongly charged. ”

“ The tray will consequently speedily lose its electricity. It will be found to be impossible to get a spark from the tray as long as the needle is on it, as the electricity vastly prefers to escape by the point. The escape of the electricity may be rendered still more evident by means of the following piece of apparatus.
Take two pieces of thin wire about two inches long, and bend each at right angles about an eighth of an inch from each end, both the bent portions being in the same direction. ”

“ In discharging electrical jars, the electricity goes in the greatest quantity through the best conductors, and by the shortest passage. Thus if a chain and a wire be made to communicate at the same time with the outer coating of a jar, and be both presented to the knob of that jar, the greater part of the charge will pass by the wire, and very little by the chain, because the latter is a worse conductor than the former, on account of its discontinuation at every link. When the discharge is 29made by the chain only, sparks are seen at every link, which is a proof they are not in contact. ”

“ In the modern picture palace, such as we illustrate, the electrical equipment is of the most elaborate character. The supply of current is derived, as a rule, from the public supply service, and the pressure has to be broken down to meet the requirements of the projector and of the electric lighting arrangements throughout the building. The supply service is generally in duplicate to guard against the failure of one installation, while should the whole service break down some other form of illumination has to be in readiness for use until the fault in the electric system is repaired. ”

“ Frictional Electricity is that produced by the friction of one substance against another.
Resinous Electricity.—The kind of electricity produced upon a resinous substances such as sealing wax, resin, shellac, rubber or amber when rubbed with wool or fur. Resinous electricity is negative electricity.
Vitreous Electricity.—A term applied to the positive electricity developed in a glass rod by rubbing it with silk. This electric charge will attract to itself bits of pith or paper which have been repelled from a rod of sealing wax or other resinous substance which had been rubbed with wool or fur. ”

“ The balancers serve the purpose of balancing the voltage on each side, and they are machines capable of acting either as motors or dynamos. In order to comply with Board of Trade regulations, electric appliances of all kinds intended for ordinary domestic purposes, including lamps, and heating and cooking apparatus, are supplied with current at a pressure not exceeding 250 volts. In a system such as we are describing, all these appliances are connected between the mid-wire and one or other of the outer wires, thus receiving current at 220 volts. ”

“ For instance, just as in analogy, steam boilers must be protected against abnormal pressures by safety valves, electric circuits must be guarded against excessive voltages by pressure limiting devices, otherwise much damage would occur, such as the burning out of incandescent lamps, grounding of cables, etc. ”

“ But at the present time, houses and business premises are supplied with electricity by companies who carry electric mains through the streets. In England these electric mains, which are thick insulated copper wires, are inclosed in iron pipes and laid beneath the pavement, like the gas mains. ”

“ That is, too much electricity drawn over the wire which is made for a certain load. Then your fuse will blow out. Extra appliances should be attached to different circuits. This a good electrician will regulate for you. Too much wattage (horsepower) over one circuit is like forcing any machinery to the breaking point. A percolator, toaster and a lamp are too heavy a load for the ordinary circuit. Connect at the same place only those appliances that are of low wattage. ”

“ Now, if you grasp the outside of the coated end with one hand, and touch the knobbed wire with the other, you will receive a shock.
96In this experiment, the coated part of the tube answers the double purpose of the electrical machine and Leyden phial; the uncoated part serving as a handle, to hold the instrument by. The friction on the outside accumulates a quantity of positive electricity upon it, and this electricity, in virtue of its sphere of action, forces out a quantity from the inside. ”

“ Many interesting and instructive lectures on Electricity are given by the most eminent scientific men of the present day. All are agreed as to its curative properties and power to relieve pain, and call attention to the many fraudulent appliances offered to the public, but they do not state where one may obtain a genuine appliance constructed on the necessary principles of the continuous current. ”

“ Cooking by Electricity is now quite practicable, though for the present decidedly expensive. The heat is obtained from the ordinary electric lighting mains, the current being made to pass through wires coiled on iron or steel plates, and embedded in enamel, having the same ratio of expansion and retraction as the metal. ”