Not a mercury interrupter!

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Terry Fritz" <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>

Hi Charles,

Many thanks for the clarification!  I looked at the interrupter patents
Dave Thomson mentioned and it was apparent that the machine in the picture
was something else.  I wonder if anyone in modern days has tried Mercury
interrupters?  Obviously, there is a great safety concern even if Tesla did
escape mercury poisoning himself.  However, I "think" the Colorado Springs
and New York project were both based on mercury interrupters.

Cheers,

	Terry

At 12:34 AM 2/15/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>>Original poster: "Terry Fritz" <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>
>>
>>To follow up...
>>
>>This is Tesla's 50 horsepower 100,000 BPS mercury interrupter at
Wardenclyffe.
>>
>>http://hot-streamer-dot-com/temp/inter.jpg
>>
>>I don't think OSHA would approve :-(( 
>>
>>Like what do you do?  Pour a fifty gallon drum of mercury into it, spin it
>>up to speed, and start arcing 37000 watts in it...
>>
>>I don't know the internal working of this thing but it looks like a mercury
>>vapor nightmare...  Or maybe a "happy
>>  dream" after you have been near it too long...
>>
>>Cheers,
>>
>>	Terry
>
>
>
>Terry,
>
>Aha...I recognize that photo.  It was in Cheney's most recent book 
>and was completely misidentified.  Many of her technical details are 
>way off,  though her books are fun to read and the photos in the most 
>recent are fascinating!  That is a direct coupled generating set, NOT 
>Tesla's mercury interrupter.  It was a common design.  You can even 
>see the tags on the steam engine and generator if you look closely, 
>and I'll bet it's a Westinghouse unit.  That white insulated pipe 
>coming down from the ceiling is the steam line feeding the engine 
>which comprises the entire right half of the unit.  There are two big 
>flywheels on either side of the steam engine, and the shaft is 
>directly coupled to a large generator on the left.   That little set 
>may be a 30kW++ unit and have been the main power source for 
>Wardenclyffe.  No doubt Tesla ultimately had larger things in mind, 
>but It is definitely not a mercury interrupter.
>
>I just put a scan of a similar design up on my web site so anyone 
>interested can see how these work.  This particular type predates the 
>Wardenclyffe photo by about ten years, however aside from the older 
>style generator, the design is almost exactly the same:
>
>http://www.voltnet-dot-com/tesla/temp/directcoupled.JPG
>
>I think there are some actual photos of Tesla's mercury interrupter 
>floating around someplace, or you can go to the patents to see what 
>it looked like.  What I find even more interesting about that 
>particular photo you posted is where the spiral staircase goes.  It 
>would be great if someday an archaeological dig could be done around 
>the Wardenclyffe lab.   I'd love to know how deep Tesla really went 
>with his ground system, how the lab was coupled to the tower, etc. 
>etc.
>
>Zap!
>
>Charles Brush
>http://www.VoltNet-dot-com
>