Re: [TCML] kVA Effects on History Channel

["DC Cox" <resonance@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I manufacture replicas of Edison's original lamp with mahogany or walnut base.

Dr. Resonance





On 5/22/08, Jeff Behary <electrotherapy@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Dave,
>
> There were many wording issues going back and forth during the filming of
> that segment.  Many times, what needed to be said and
> what was requested to be said didn't always coincide.  It was more a matter
> to get a point across quickly and easily for a somewhat ignorant public.
>
> (The lamp discussions were part of over 8 hours of filming here at the
> house...the whole day lasted from 8am to 9:30pm...unaired scenes included
> medical quackery pushing Tesla's name, surgical diathermy and antique/modern
> high frequency X-Rays, constructing an 1890s Tesla Coil, etc)
>
> The Stopper lamp was a real interest to show, because it is one of the few
> physical items that remain of the "battle of the currents".
> The need for the lamp was a huge issue for both Westinghouse and Tesla - who
> were faced with lighting an exposition at
> a bid virtually to low to conceive.  (I believe I read that their bid was
> around $5.25 a light a lamp, while most bids were nearly $15)
>
> This led to many issues - the two most important were how to produce such a
> cheap lamp and how to produce one that didn't interfere
> with Edison's patents.  People had only been trying to do this the last 20
> years and they had less than 6 months!
>
> Westinghouse, Tesla, and their team of engineers had to find a solution.  It
> didn't fall on anyone alone, the stakes were huge, and more than likely was
> a collective
> effort of many people.  The Sawyer-Mann lamp was an earlier stopper lamp
> (several Stopper lamp designs existed) but to my knowledge the lamp was
> built
> by Westinghouse by their design in a special factory in Alleghany,
> Pittsburgh.  At the price of their bid, platinum couldn't be used, nor any
> other expensive material.
> Iron wires were used and carbon filaments.  The seal was glass to glass, and
> a rubber-like stopper was used to pass through the iron lead-in wires.  No
> expensive (or time consuming)
> vacuum pumps, metal to glass seals, elaborate filament processes, etc...as
> cheap and simple as possible to light the expossition and that's it.
>
> The bulbs were successful for the event, but a real challenge too in how
> impractical they were.   The bulbs were exhausted and (I believe)
> back-filled with nitrogen.  The seals didn't last long,
> meaning the bulbs had to be replaced often...continuously in fact!.  The
> bulbs remain synonymous today with Westinghouse and Tesla's AC system.
>
> Today Stopper lamps (of any kind) are a real rarity.  They sell for around
> $1500 each, and the sockets can sell for the same or higher.  There were
> also adaptors for Edison-base lamps/etc -
> also very expensive and equally rare.There is one particular Stopper lamp I
> was given a photo of that was original to the factory.  It stood about a
> foot tall, and was purchased in a private sale for over $15,000!!!!
> Mine was a gift from a friend, and remains one of the most prized
> possessions here.  Its amazing, that with all of Tesla's historical
> acheivements, some of the only physical remains (historically) to obtain
> from them are Stopper lamps and Speedometers...and the odd original lecture
> or autograph.
>> Date: Thu, 22 May 2008 03:05:45 -0700> Subject: Re: [TCML] kVA Effects on
>> History Channel> From: davep@xxxxxxxx> To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> CC: > > > Is
>> the DVD that they have the same episode that was watched by the group?>
>> Probably. The only ones who know fersure are History Channel:>
>> www.history.com> > > I missed the first show and the second one never
>> happened.> > Does anyone know if it will be re-broadcast?> Almost
>> certainly, but perhaps not for 'months'.> Casual glance around web site
>> shows: not in the next few weeks.> That site, and others, allow setting
>> searches on upcoming> shows. An inquiry at history.com MIGHT be useful. Or
>> not,> given the scheduling vagaries already exhibited.> > (Some of the
>> 'History' was real iffy. A notable, if trivial,> example was the 'Tesla'
>> lamps 'invented' for the Columbian> Exposition. These were invented by
>> "Sawyer-Mann" and used> only to sidestep Edison's patents. cf: Wizard, by>
>> Marc Seifer, p 119, for one. I don't propose to pick the> rest of Mad
>> Electricity apart: suffice it to say the> probable version can be pieced
>> together...)> > best> dwp> > >
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