Container for mercury

There's one on display in operation at the Tramways Museum in Crich.

I can't recall much in the way of earthquake precautions thobut.

Derek G

Reply to
Derek G.
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Yes.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Yes, none of them the pads I was thinking of. The advantage with the pads was that the mercury could be recovered by wringing them out.

Reply to
Steve Firth

The job is finished. By a capenter! Not what I would have done. But it's adequate and satisfies H&S. Thanks for all the replies.

Youtube has plenty of videos for Mercury arc rectifiers :) e.g.

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Reply to
Matty F

It's quite rare to see one in action, as their cubicles were often interlocked against both the UV and the high voltage hazard.

The best place to see one is in the works of the Greek sculptor Takis, who uses many (working) electrical and electromechanical devices like this.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

The job is finished. By a capenter! Not what I would have done. But it's adequate and satisfies H&S. Thanks for all the replies.

Youtube has plenty of videos for Mercury arc rectifiers :) e.g.

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used to work as a toolmaker and used a machine tool which had a variable speed spindle drive - the DC came from a Mercury Arc Rectifier. It was a source of fascination (as well as DC). Anyone near Derbyshire can see on at the Static Engines Hall at the Midland Railway Museum at Butterley. It is coupled to a large gas engine (I think)

Reply to
DerbyBoy

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Graham." saying something like:

For gawd's sake. The Fire Brigade? Why on earth didn't somebody simply take it home and have endless hours of fun with it?

Reply to
Grimly Curmudgeon

I did look at the headers before posting but all I noticed was that it was posted through google groups. I've had another look and this time I see it is a .nz email address. I never expected that, this being a uk group and all ;)

Thanks, Stephen.

Reply to
Stephen

You've read Alice in Wonderland? You remember the Mad Hatter?

Mercury used to be used in making felt for hats.

Andy

Reply to
Andy Champ

secondary

Yeah but exposure levels where horrendous in the felt industry compared to standing the same room with 135 Kg(*) of the stuff spilt on the floor. Minamata disease also required fairly hefty exposure.

(*) That's roughly what a 5 x 2m x 1mm deep pool of Hg weighs.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Didn't hat making use a compound of mercury rather than the elemental metal?

I had a friend who worked in the 60s in a lab where there was a mecury still. After a few months he was offwork for some time with the effects of mercury poisoning. They then got rid of the mercury still. I don't think there were any lasting effects as I had an email from him (now in South Africa) last year.

Reply to
<me9

We dropped sodium into hydrochloric acid as a remote controlled experiment at school. It does explode, but not instantly. It takes 30-60 seconds for the lump of sodium to melt and then vapourise first, during which time the water is limited to reacting with the surface of it only (and gives a roman candle effect). When it finally explodes, it blows all the acid out of the vessel, and is probably mainly the vapour reacting with the resulting spray.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

There used to be one in the old Birmingham museum of science and industry (Newhall St.) and that fascinated me too in my youth. It is still there in the basement of the new Millennium Point museum but not, alas, as a working exhibit.

Reply to
Andy Wade

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