Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-07-26
THE BRUSH LIGHT AND DYNAMO.
One OF the Systems Studied by the Electric
Commission.

One OF the Systems Studied by the Electric
Commission.
The Electric Light Commission have
picked up great many practical point
ers about the business since they left
Wheeling fortnight ago. One OF
their most useful lessons was
learned at Buffalo, when they saw
Brush dynamo In process OF repair.
The repair account Of an electric light
plant is a very important item in its
operating expenses, and the greatest
bugbear to the electrician Is the "burn-
ing out of armatUres." The armature
of a dynamo is the part that
revolves, and as may be easily
understood, is the part that is
most liable to injury. A burn out may
be caused by lightning or by score OF
other mishaps. When a burn out oc-
ours, the whole machine Is rendered
useless until the armature is repaired or
''rewound" and it is therefore evident
that the cost Of re-winding an armature
Is quite an element in the selection OF
system. In most armatures the wires
are wound upon an iron cylinder in a
manner somewhat similar to the way In
which small boy winds his kite string
upon a stick, so that at the ends OF the
immature there are many layers OF wire
overlapping one another. When an
accident happens TO an armature OF
this style, even il it is only a
single wire that is injured, the
damage is sure to be found on the bot
tom layer, and every inch of the wire,
which is frequently thousands of feet in
length, must be removed and new wire
wound on the core. This work requires
several days of highly skilled labor, and
since very few plants have facilities for
doing it properly, they must depend
upon the factories which usually charge
several hundred dollars for reminding
an armature, besides keeping the plant
shut down for an indefinite period I'M
less spare armature be at hand. The
Brush armature was designed with
view to obviating these defects, and the
committee were much interested in its
simplicity and ease of repair. This ar
mature consists simply of an iron ring
upon which the wire is wound in twelve
coils, each coil occupying its
own slot in the ring and
being entirely separate and
distinct from every other coil. Now
when turnout occurs the machine Is
stopped, the injured coil is disconnected
from the others and the machine is
ready for operation again inside of five or
ten minutes. The next morning the ar
mature is lifted out of the dynamo Gan
operation which requires only the
loosening of four bolts and the removal
Of two small caps,) and very cheap
man can rewind the injured coil in a
very short time. The machine is as
good as new long before it is needed for
the next nights run and the cost OF re-
pair has been merely nominal. This
separation of the coils also inSures per-
feet ventilation and thus prevents the
wires from becoming heated by the cur
rent passing through them, thereby di-
minishing the liability TO a
turnout. In most other forms
of dynamo the armature is
closely surrounded by the "field mag
nets" which retain and add to the heat
generated in the armature, and thus in
crease the risk of accident. Moreover,
this construction adds greatly tc the
difficulty OF handling the machine be-
cause, in order 20 take ont an armature
the heavy frame of the machine must
first be moved by means OF blocks and
tackle, and a damaged amature means
a delay of several hours even when
spare armature is held in reverse. The
committee were much impressed with
the ease and cheapness OF repair of the
Brush system, together with the SIM
plicity, accessibility, perfect ventila-
ton and mechanical excellence Of the
machine.
The Brush lamp has also been design
ed with the aim of combining perfect
simplicity and small number OF parts
with absolute reliability. 1t contains no
delicate clock work TO get out Of order,
nor is it filled with intricate mechanism
that requires constant attention and
adjustment by skilled expert. 1t
seems to have been designed with the
idea Of making lamp that will attend
strictly to business through all kinds of
weather without demanding expensive
repairs or skilled attention. The pre-
dominant characteristics claimed by the
Brush system as a whole are absolute re-
liability, perfect simplicity, and ease and
cheapneSs Of repair.