Do you know if the supply was AC or DC, and if the supply was AC, why were the motors DC? That wouldn't make much sense, as there have been decent, powerful, AC motors around for years.
And the smell would not have been from faulty selenium rectifiers. They have an extremely unpleasant smell, something like garlic going off.
Pretty sure early electric transport was DC - 630V usually. The smell is either hot enamelled copper wire or the crude resistors they used to limit starting current.
Do you have an outside electric point to plug a sump-heater into ?.
If so, and they are common, Canada could be well-placed for plug-in electric cars ??
My former employer, the parking lot at work had just about every parking spot with an electrical outlet for sump-heater.
The employees didn't abuse them.
They were all removed, the next time the lot needed paving :-)
We're talking about a lot with room for 700 cars or so.
*******Since the invention of decent oil for cars, the sump-heater is less necessary. My current car is the first one without a sump heater installed. The last couple of years, the low temp was -26C. (There was one day which was a bit colder, but you just wait it out until it passes. There were a few more
-26C days.)
Where my sister lives, gets colder than that. And she tells stories about what it takes to get a car started. There's not much room in the car, because she is a great believer in emergency supplies. If you need a deep-fried Mars bar, there's probably one in the glove box.
Whereas in my car, there's just about nothing for emergencies. A jack, a tire iron, and a spare tire I've never looked at :-)
Paul
The smell is ozone from the sparking at the brushes. Electrical substations on the route had mercury in glass rectifers that provided the DC from a 12 phase AC transformer.
Does she live in Scotland ? :-)
It's northern Alberta Canada.
She starts cross country skiing in late September. There's enough snow by then, for a track.
Paul
Icing was a big problem on the overhead trolleybus wire ISTR
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.