The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

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[D8328], Report from Edison Electric Light Co, Sherburne Blake Eaton, 1883

Editor's Notes

Defect Report for Week Ending Jan. 6, 1883. Several complaints about poor commutator insulation, usually resulting in sparks across the mica. "It has recently given much trouble and has necessitated changing several armatures." Carr & Hobson complain of lamp breakage. York Mfg. Co. of Saco has bad K dynamo; bars are uneven and seemed to have been exposed to weather as it threw out water; only able to carry partial load. New mill socket is till giving trouble; impossible to screw on the lead base of the socket when we use a shade holder. Mt. Vernon Mills have bad cleat screws that hold the pendants. Screws too short. Stewart reports from Santiago that every socket, switch, and safety catch should be tested before use; there are loose wires which increase resistance, cause heating and break lamps and fixtures. Brush holders for Z machine: screw holding the brush gets stripped easily. One armature bar was loose. "How could such a fault pass the tests?" Suggestions from Phila wrt driving pulley on K; it's too small and reduces efficiency. From Catasauqua, PA: bad switch on lamp; can't shut it off or on. From NYC: a suggestion that all lamps be labeled, b/c in many cases A lamps put into B sockets and vice versa; this radically shortens life of B lamps if put in A sockets. "Continued complaint" about brass studs on brush holders being too short. Socket burned out at Mayall Rubber Co. Probs w/ A&S engine boxes. Defect Report for Week Ending Jan. 13, 1883. Several complaints from Western Edison Co. Socket screws and bad soldering at Appleton plant. Mr. Doane's house had water leak into pendant fixture, causing safety catches to burn out. York Mfg Co, Saco, ME: 2 of 3 installed dynamos don't work properly; 1st throws out water causing a short and damaged commutator and crossed armature. 2nddynamo started up with a pillow block insecurely fastened; resulted in binding wire tearing off. Fiss, Banes & Erben, Philadelphia. Replacement armature for K dynamo has uneven ends in commutator bars. Best Brewery, Milwaukee. Bad junction boxes. Worumbo Mills. 22 lamps failed; avg life 228 hours. Chicago HQ plant. Brass ring burst on new style lamps. Defect Report for Week Ending Jan. 20, 1883. Merrick dynamo. Mr. Francis found it heating badly b/c conductors from brush holders to switchboard are too small. "This is worth attention in making the new K dynamos. Philadelphia. Shade holders: the "improved cock socket" doesn't fit the "improved holder." Several problems with shorts in sockets. Defect Report for Week Ending Jan. 27, 1883. Omitted b/c only 2 items received. Defect Report for Week Ending Feb. 3, 1883. Ansonia Brass and Copper Co. wire is hard, brittle, and poor conducting quality. Particularly noticeable in recent installations; needs immediate attention. New #15 switches are defective. From Chicago: bursted brass rings on lamps; bad new sockets. Bad soldering on K dynamo at Smith plant in Appleton. Chicago HQ. K commutator was out of round and replaced; new commutator almost immediately burned out. Boston, RH White & Co. Foreman reports 11 of 500 lamps shipped were broken; 32 were "imperfect." 14 of 250 porcelain shades broken. Several swinging brackets were missing binding screws. Defect Report for Week Ending Feb. 10, 1883. From London. Z dynamo pillow blocks are not interchangeable. Lubricators for Z dynamos do not feed enough to obviate heating. Z binding wire not soldered sufficiently; caused short in commutator. Brush holder binding screws bent from bad packing. Binding screws of switchboard are not strong enough mechanically. Lamp and socket connections not same size. Switches frequently heat from arcing, particularly 8 light switch. Lamp terminals vary in size. Low lamp life. Switches break after a few months b/c contact screws From Archibald Coats, New Brunswick, Canada. Of 30 lamps received in Dec., none are left. Lisbon Falls, ME. 67 new lamps sent to Worumbo Mills; 20 have burned out. Defect Report for Week Ending March 3, 1883. From John Howell at Lowell, Feb. 24, 1883. Howell there "preparing for the competitive test between the Edison and Weston systems." K dynamo bearings ran hot and it took 5 hp to run machine with no load on it even. Stewart from Santiago, Jan. 11, 1883. Writes about mistakes in shipment. "At 6000 miles distance these things are serious." Poor testing at Lamp Factory. wrt improved socket; screws do not fasten sufficiently. Other issues include flanges not tapped out enough to screw on the pipe. Defect Report for Week Ending March 31, 1883. New switches heat a good deal b/c contact plate oxidized. When they heat the releasing springs lose elasticity and switches fail. Thin glass in recent lamp globes. Hot resistance wire in automatic voltage regulators; wire too small. Wirt reports from Chicago, March 22. Switchboards on K dynamo at Rogers's plant in Appleton is splitting at glued joints. From Santiago. Problems with pulleys ad shaft collars. Burned out safety plug caused a fire with two injuries. Can't we make the plugs out of fireproof materials instead of wood? From Boston. Problem with safety plugs at Worumbo Mills; did $25 damage to carding machine. Defect Report for Week ending April 14, 1883. New cement for safety plugs absorbs moisture and blows the safety wire. From Boston. K dynamos overloaded running 500 lamps. Bearings run hot all the time. Problem at Merrimac, Worumbo, and Herald installations. New 325 light dynamo has problems with oil cups. "These dynamos seem to be built with a view of running them in one direction only, viz. from right to left; if they revolve from left to right the following obstacles present themselves:" Problems with brushes and brush holders, blower will not operate properly, oil channels operate only in one direction. "In actual practice there are as many dynamos set up to revolve from left to right as from right to left and heretofore one of the great advantages of the Edison dynamo has been that it was equally efficient when running in either direction." Poor lamp life at Anamosa, IA prison plant. Defect Report for Week Ending April 21, 1883. Problems with steam and moisture destroying plaster on lamp terminals, sockets, etc. at Portage Straw Board Co. and Appleton, WI paper mill Poor soldering on lamp lead in wires. Slater Cotton Co., Pawtucket, RI. Conductors shorting to electric tube probably at jnxn box. K dynamo: wires of field magnets not insulated enough from base. Some dynamos installed without wooden base frames, which grounds them. Defect Book Report for Week Ending April 28, 1883. From London. Problems with brass collar on lamps. Improper or no labeling of shipped dynamos, engines, and parts. Barrel of lamps shipped contained excessive water; can't use lamps till they dry; pls have Lamp Factory pack watertight. Problem with brush holders on H (35 light) dynamo. Improvements needed to base frame for H machine. From Santiago. Resistance boxes for K dynamos only divided into one ohm divisions, making it hard to regulate; need finer division of 1/32 ohm; gets around by using series or // arrgt. Defect Book Report for Week Ending May 12, 1883. Boston. #216 switch is bad and breaks b/c made of cast iron. Also have poor bases. Haverly's Theater, new H dynamo #151. Bad brush holder. Bad flint glass bottles and corks for meters. Defect Book Report for Week Ending May 19, 1883. From Santiago. Multiple light globes have no ventilation for hot air to escape, making sockets expand and lamps burn out; impossible to run 32cp lamps for long. Poor regulation in central station with 3 engines driving 6 K and 3 Z dynamos; advocates direct coupling dynamo to engine. K dynamos heat excessively at bearings b/c poor oil cups. Bad packing of electric tubes: "When will this thing end?" Poor soldering in K and L armatures at Ledger and Record installations in Philadelphia. installation. Several commutators have bars of uneven length. Don't make of cast iron. Defect Book Report for Week Ending June 23, 1883. A&S engines don't use standard cylinder oilers. Key on regulator pulley not well fitted at Bennett Building installation. From Chicago. New style #201 shade holders are corroded. Wire from Isolated Co. is too brittle to use. Roselle. Bad #210 switches; stick in damp weather. Philadelphia, Harrison, Havemeyer & Co. Many lamps blown. Poor lamp testing. "We have frequent complaints of irregularity in lamps.... We find great diversity in the illuminating power of many lamps in the same plant." Particularly noticeable in Boston Advertiser plant. Defect Book Report for Week Ending July 7, 1883. From Santiago. Rainstorm caused short on main wires supplying 50 lights. Poor shipping again, broken stuff and bent tubes. From Chicago. K regulator voltage indicators are not sensitive enough b/c weak magnet. 1st National Bank, Chicago. Same problem with insensitive voltage indicator. Also poor commutator insulation. Many lamps not seated properly in sockets b/c plaster paris. This looks bad b/c uneven when installed. Many lamps not distinctly marked for volts, cp. Use etching ink for this. Defect Book Report for Week Ending Aug. 25, 1883. From Roselle. After starting street lighting on July 26, 7 street lamps have shorted. Lamps and shades sent to Syracuse improperly packed and contents damaged. 7 problems with design of automatic regulators Riverside Mill: problems with lamps and sockets. Lawrence, MA. Problem with insulated flexible cord used for portable fixtures. Defect Book Report for Week Ending Sept. 1, 1883. Hilliers Saloon, NYC. Safety plug at dynamo burned out. Santiago. Life of lamps is low; over 1000 lasted less than 100 hours. Prospect House, Adirondacks. Armature binding wire broke requiring armature to be replaced. Chicago. Commutator bars sink after getting hot resulting in sparking and shorter commutator life. Appleton. Letter from WD Kurz who has charge of the plant there. Bad safety plugs caused intermittent lights. Urges water and fire proof safety catches and plugs to remedy. New bases of common sockets are of poor quality. Wire used by Bergmann for wiring fixtures has poor insulation; wire is brittle also. Harrison, Havemeyer & Co., Philadelphia. Regulator sent there had bad binding screw which shorted across the resistance. Slater Cotton Co. mill. Got automatic regulator to work, showing value of stronger magnets in regulator. Ledger installation in Philadelphia. Oil destroyed insulation of conductor attached to dynamo. Same problem at Philadelphia Record installation, causing short to ground. Defect Book Report for Week Ending Sept. 29, 1883. From Boston. 350 and 400 light machines spark and brushes get hot. J. Borden, Jr. suggests lengthening the commutator bars to permit 3rd brush. 3 complaints wrt Lockwood automatic regulator: magnets too weak. "Was this regulator tested before it was sent out?" From Milan. 1. C dynamos need to be shipped with bearings tallowed b/c sea air rusted them during shipping. 2. A&S engines are not properly marked, making them hard to assemble. 3. Use mica instead of jappaned paper for commutator bar insulation. Defect Book Report for Week Ending Oct. 6, 1883. 100 light dynamo rocker arm needs more range of movement to permit brushes to be brought to best position on commutator. Continental Worsted Mills. Pillow block of L dynamo not tapped to correct size to fit oil cups. One dynamo had defective armature. Lawrence, MA. 100 cp lamps heat excessively, breaking inner neck almost immediately. Commutator with soft sections. Poor labeling for materials shipped on steamship Trenton. Santiago. Asks for wrenches to be provided in future shipments. Meters are bad and have 20% variation. Jenckes's installation. Armature covered with canvas at commutator end, tell Machine Works of this. Old Kentucky Woolen Mills, Louisville, KY. Automatic regulator doesn't work properly. Shorts in lamp sockets. Commutator and bearing heats badly. Defect Book Report for Week Ending Oct. 20, 1883. Lawrence, MA. Hole burned through brass of electrolier arm b/c poor insulation. Harrison, Havemeyer & Co. Binding wires got loose and detached. Same thing happened in August at Philadelphia Record plant. TAE marginalia: "Tell Soldan those ought to have wire bound around them as in Central Station Machines. Billy Wright will explain. We never had trouble after we did this." Brushes for L, K, H dynamos are not thoroughly soldered and fall apart. Prospect House, Blue Mountain Lake. Loose binding wires on armatures caused dynamo failure and armature damage requiring one to be replaced. Also armature diameters varied. Havemeyer and Elder's sugar refinery. Sockets made by Bergmann can't be used in location with atmospheric moisture, as they short in such condx. Safety plugs are poor quality. TAE marg: "Tell [Hutch?] these are the old Catches--new plugs can't absorb" Ford's Theatre: track used for H dynamo broke. Santiago. Bad soldering in consumption meters, causing higher resistance. Half of the copper terminals on zinc plates are loose and need soldered; binding screws need to be reamed out to accept the terminals. Defect Book Report for Week Ending Nov. 24, 1883. Santiago. Pulley on main c/shaft exploded b/c poorly constructed. Hennis at Milan writes Batchelor that A&S engines work badly; takes 2x oil that Porter-Allen engine does. TAE marg wrt oil: "why" Another accident with Porter engine with broken crank pin. TAE marg: "We never had this occur yet." Philadelphia. Damaged lamps b/c poor packing. Darlington and Runk. Engine bed sent there is 3/4 inch out of true. Also problems with bad machining of bolt holes. Philadelphia Public Ledger. Bad packing of lamps resulted in breakage. Problems with engine construction, particularly bad machining and bad lubrication. Recommends use of Holland lubricator in all engines thereafter. Chicago. Cold wx caused glycerine in dashpot of automatic regulator to become more viscous; would not work. TAE marg: "Edison suggests a Lamp be put beside of glycerine pot & kept burning" Chicago. Broken automatic regulator. "This machine seems to be made with a view to make repairs an impossibility." Hard to get to and requires removal of commutator. "All this would be obviated by screwing magnets to bed-plate from above." Also insufficient clearance btwn regulator magnet and armature. TAE marg: "EHJ" "Notwithstanding these varied faults which require the frequent attention of an expert, I consider that the principle of the regulator is good, and when in order a great advantage over the old resistance box....We have asked Mr. Edison for a remedy." TAE marg: "EHJ must run this changing down & see what causes it we have no one else capable"

Author

Edison Electric Light Co

Eaton, Sherburne Blake

Date

1883-00-00

Type

Report

Subject

Production difficulties and adjustments

Electric light and power

Folder ID

D8328-F

Microfilm ID

66:811

Document ID

D8328

URL

https://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/D8328

Rights

Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Publisher

Thomas A. Edison Papers, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University

License

CC0 1.0 Universal

Has Version

Archive.org Viewer, Microfilm Series Reel 66

Item sets

[D8328-F] (D-83-28) Electric Light -- Edison Electric Light Co -- Defect Reports