5 items. I'm trying to put an age on two, identify two and learn to decipher one - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: shig
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2020, 01:44:26 pm
content: Hey all. I have five things that I'm hoping to learn more about. I numbered them to hopefully make it easier to know which part we are talking about. Any help is greatly appreciated.1. It's a Sprague Vitamin Q. The brand and specs I know. What I'm wondering though is what year(s) it is from. I have tons of Sprague caps and lots of them are Vitamin Q. This is the only one I have or have ever seen that looks like this. I'm curious to know if it is from before or after all the silver Vitamin Q's that I have. I wish there was a visual guide of caps by years.2. Same thing on this one. Just wondering an age on it.3. This one I just don't know. Has no markings at all. Both sides of the little barrel have that black dot on there.4. I know that it is an Electro Swiitch indicator light, but what does it indicate? Where would it be used?5. I tested them and the numbers on the bag are accurate. I'm just wondering if these colors represent the numbers in some odd two-color coded way that I am not familiar with. The caps have no markings at all.As for the unnumbered item, I think I got that one solved. A friend of mine says it is most likely an American penny. I'll research it later.I am stiill pretty new to all this and eager to learn more, and I appreciate you taking the time to read it and possibly reply.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2020, 06:00:43 pm
content: #1 and 2 are marked and should be self explanatory. Those high voltage caps were very common on the old tube type radios, particularly in transmitters. Those probably date from the late 1940s through the 1950s and 1960s. #5 are newer capacitors and their values are marked. Since they're only rated at 35 volts they designed for use with "newer" solid state equipment. Not sure what #3 is.#4 is just an indicator lamp and can be used for just about any purpose such as to show power on indicator or an alarm signal. That style was very common in the 1950s and 1960s. The plastic lens unscrews and has a filament type bulb in under it. It may be a bayonet type socket, push in or it may unscrew. My advice is to remove the bulb and see what number it is and then look up the number and it will tell you what voltage and current it needs. Note that, if you need to, the bulb can be replaced by another with different ratings. Those were very generic and were used on ALL sorts of electronic equipment. Added, it might also have a neon light bulb in it, but you can tell by looking.

author: fourfathom
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2020, 06:12:19 pm
content: #3 looks like a solenoid electromagnet or magnetic sensing coil. It could possibly be a fairly high-value inductor, but that seems less likely (sure, it's got inductance, but that's not how it would be used).

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2020, 06:27:54 pm
content: I don't have solid information, just remembering where I have seen parts like these.1. Agree with the 1940s to 1950s time frame. I don't think they made it into new commercial stuff far into the 1960s, but really don't know when they stopped production.2. I have only seen these in commercially built equipment from the 1930s to 1940s. They show up in amateur stuff much later (I still have and use a few).3. No idea.4. You do know that these lamps were used like LEDs today, to indicate power on and the like. This one, having a metal screen over it, was probably used in an environment where fire or explosion were dangers. It is two way protection. The screen helps keep the glass bulb from breaking in an explosion or the like. The filament can't then act as an ignition source for any remaining or generated fumes. The other protective feature is that glass lamps occasionally pop for a variety of reasons. The screen helps keep the fragments in place and somewhat reduces the risk of being an ignition source. Probably used in a mine, chemical factory or warship.5. As I recall these showed up the 1960s and are still being produced today.Your friend is right about the penny. The most interesting thing about it is that based on the date it is made of zinc with a copper plate. They used to be solid copper, but as the price of copper increased (or more accurately as the value of a dollar decreased) the copper became worth more than the penny so in the early 1980s they switched to the zinc construction. They will probably stop making them sometime in the not too far future as their value continues to decrease. Between that value decrease and the move to electronic transactions they have almost completely lost their purpose.

author: bob91343
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2020, 07:56:02 pm
content: I wonder if the little thing with the black dot may be a pushbutton switch.Number 1 may be a ceramic capacitor. Used in high voltage power supplies or transmitters.I also have some of those mica capacitors like #2.The screen inside the lamp was for shielding. The capacitors in the bag are tantalum.The penny is one electrode of what we used to call a two-cent capacitor, where one was soldered to a screw that could adjust the spacing to the other, for early VHF breadboards.

author: shig
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2020, 10:42:37 pm
content: Quote from: Stray Electron on November 28, 2020, 06:00:43 pmYes, I know the first two are marked. That's why I pointed that out. Didn;t want you to think I was asking for what their specs are. Thank you for the info on a time fframe. As for #5, where are their values marked? They have no markings on them and are only two colors.

author: shig
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2020, 10:47:05 pm
content: Quote from: CatalinaWOW on November 28, 2020, 06:27:54 pmHAHAHA!! Well played!

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2020, 10:50:51 pm
content: Quote from: shig on November 28, 2020, 10:42:37 pmIf you look very closely, is there any sort of red, brown or other color spot on one side of the #5?Color code orange/orange/orange/blue might mean 33uF @ 20V, but there's no polarity indicated and bipolar tantalums would be unusual.

author: shig
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2020, 10:51:11 pm
content: I thought the same about #3 when just looking at it, but no. It's not a button. I think I'm gonna try and open one up and see inside.

author: shig
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2020, 10:56:57 pm
content: Quote from: bdunham7 on November 28, 2020, 10:50:51 pmNope. No other color. There is a blue line that extends beyond where the blue ends and orange begins on the rest of the cap, but I took that to ust indicate which side is positive.

author: tpowell1830
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2020, 11:14:08 pm
content: I can't really help with dates, but #3 looks like an electromagnet. Have you ohmed out the 2 leads?

author: shig
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2020, 12:22:10 am
content: Quote from: tpowell1830 on November 28, 2020, 11:14:08 pmAHA! Thanks so much That's what they are! So now I jjust need to find something to do with 1 pound of them or find someone that can use them.

author: gcewing
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2020, 08:34:46 am
content: I'm told the sixth item was sometimes used as a whatever-you-need-it-to-be amp fuse.

author: bob91343
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2020, 10:12:10 pm
content: To use a penny as a fuse you had to be working with a plug fuse, the kind with an Edison base that is obsolete. You would remove the blown fuse, drop a penny into the socket, and then replace the fuse.It was an excellent repair when you didn't have the right part. That is, until your house burned down.

author: dietert1
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2020, 10:52:17 pm
content: #5 The color code reads: orange orange blue = 336 = 33E6 pF. And there should be some markup for polarity.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2020, 12:13:58 am
content: #3 looks like the type of electromagnet used in telephone switches. Probably has the same 40s-60s timeframe as the other parts.