General Electric C20D Silicon Controlled Rectifier
name: label: maker
content: General Electric Company
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: A 7.5 Amp 400 Volt Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) made by General Electric. Package: metal can with TO-48 stud with plastic insulator. Stamped: "GE C20D [input indicator]".
label: Description (Brief)
content: Rectifiers convert alternating to direct current, an essential function for radio, computers, and many other electronic devices. During the post-WWII era, research focused on creating solid state devices like transistors as an alternative to fragile and inefficient rectifier tubes. Low-power devices were produced during the 1950s, but making devices that could handle higher currents proved difficult. the invention of SCRs in the 1960s solved that problem. This C20D unit is a good example of an early SCR capable of handling 400 volts. Inventors used SCRs during the 1970s in designing electronic ballasts that significantly reduced the amount of electrical power used to light the US.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2022.0278.12
label: accession number
content: 2022.0278
label: catalog number
content: 2022.0278.12
objectType: label: Object Name
content: rectifier
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 3/8 in x 1/2 in; 3.4925 cm x 1.27 cm