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4hv.org :: Forums :: General Science and Electronics
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Identify that component!

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joshua_
Mon Oct 08 2012, 07:04AM Print
joshua_ Registered Member #61 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:50AM
Location: Mountain View, CA
Posts: 43
A friend of a friend posted these pictures on Twitter of a component she found in her basement -- it apparently had one end labeled 'P' and one end labeled 'N', but no other markings...

A4qWxY3CQAAsi V

A4qYoWTCMAAEOge

A4qY4BvCQAE480P

My instinct is a GM tube, since I've seen one here recently... but I figured other people might enjoy playing a game of 'identify that component'! My conjecture is that the "tube of crap" inside may well have been a getter, if it was to live in a vacuum otherwise.

joshua,
still finishing up his SSTC, and will post about it here eventually, but wanted to break his many-year silent streak first...
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Steve Conner
Mon Oct 08 2012, 01:01PM
Steve Conner Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706
Well, I'm utterly baffled. If there was a Mystery Component Of The Year award, I think you would win it. smile

The substance in the "tube of crap" may well be a dessicant called Drierite, a mixture of calcium sulfate and cobalt chloride. See if it turns pink when exposed to moisture.
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Electra
Mon Oct 08 2012, 07:19PM
Electra Registered Member #816 Joined: Sun Jun 03 2007, 07:29PM
Location:
Posts: 156
Looks like it could be a really old and weird flashlight.
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radiotech
Mon Oct 08 2012, 07:21PM
radiotech Registered Member #2463 Joined: Wed Nov 11 2009, 03:49AM
Location:
Posts: 1546
The tube seems to be the right size for number of batteries. The whole affair might have a strobe
or timing light and the component a flash tube.

All the other parts in the assembly would hold clues, trigger coil, stransistors etc.
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Shrad
Mon Oct 08 2012, 08:42PM
Shrad Registered Member #3215 Joined: Sun Sept 19 2010, 08:42PM
Location:
Posts: 780
couldn't that be a radon trap with some kind of scintillator inside... ?
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joshua_
Tue Oct 09 2012, 07:29AM
joshua_ Registered Member #61 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:50AM
Location: Mountain View, CA
Posts: 43
Looks like I was *square on* wrong.

"Finally found the missing clue to the basement tube mystery: the sealed glass tube isn't empty. It contains a few drops of mercury. The device is a tilt-sensor. Upright, the mercury completes the circuit at the base of the tube. Tilted, the mercury flows and breaks it. Testing shows the light goes out when it's tilted past 90 degrees. As to what it was used for on a ship...you've got me."
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