General Electric mercury arc rectifier
name: label: maker
content: General Electric Company
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: A large glass tube with metal capped contact arms on each side and on the bottom, smaller metal capped contact on the left side, glass tubulation on the right side. Paper label reads: “General [GE logo] Electric / Mercury Arc / Rectifier Serial / No. 013989 / Cat. 992935 / Schenectady, N.Y. / Made in U.S.A. / N.S. 11052 B.” Donor’s card reads: “Mercury arc rectifier made by the General Electric Company. Sometimes called a mercury vapor rectifier by other manufacturers. Used in the Downingtown telephone exchange as a battery charger until that office converted to dial phones in 1957. The design dates from the beginning of the commercial use of alternating current.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Paul G. Watson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.324969
label: catalog number
content: 324969
label: accession number
content: 252994
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Electron Tube, Diode
label: Object Name
content: rectifier
label: Other Terms
content: Electron Tube, Diode; Electron Tubes
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 24 in x 18 1/2 in x 6 in; 60.96 cm x 46.99 cm x 15.24 cm