Identify that component!
joshua_, Mon Oct 08 2012, 07:04AMA 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...
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...
Re: Identify that component!
Steve Conner, Mon Oct 08 2012, 01:01PM
Well, I'm utterly baffled. If there was a Mystery Component Of The Year award, I think you would win it.
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.
Steve Conner, Mon Oct 08 2012, 01:01PM
Well, I'm utterly baffled. If there was a Mystery Component Of The Year award, I think you would win it.
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.
Re: Identify that component!
Electra, Mon Oct 08 2012, 07:19PM
Looks like it could be a really old and weird flashlight.
Electra, Mon Oct 08 2012, 07:19PM
Looks like it could be a really old and weird flashlight.
Re: Identify that component!
radiotech, Mon Oct 08 2012, 07:21PM
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.
radiotech, Mon Oct 08 2012, 07:21PM
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.
Re: Identify that component!
Shrad, Mon Oct 08 2012, 08:42PM
couldn't that be a radon trap with some kind of scintillator inside... ?
Shrad, Mon Oct 08 2012, 08:42PM
couldn't that be a radon trap with some kind of scintillator inside... ?
Re: Identify that component!
joshua_, Tue Oct 09 2012, 07:29AM
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."
joshua_, Tue Oct 09 2012, 07:29AM
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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