hi guys,i have this philco socket power 'a' battery substitute,it has a socket that looks like it might be for one of those old-fashion screw-in fuse,is that what it's for??thanks,phil

Phil,
Don't know about the battery power, but I have Riders drawings of an old Edison, showing the same type of plug (looks like the old time glass screw-in fuses) attached to the AC line cord. Don't ever remember seeing an AC wall socket like that in any antique store.

marv

:hi guys,i have this philco socket power 'a' battery substitute,it has a socket that looks like it might be for one of those old-fashion screw-in fuse,is that what it's for??thanks,phil

It is my understanding that you removed the light bulb from its socket and then screwed that into the light socket for power. ie "Socket power"
Greg

:hi guys,i have this philco socket power 'a' battery substitute,it has a socket that looks like it might be for one of those old-fashion screw-in fuse,is that what it's for??thanks,phil

Well now that makes a little sense, but the lamp still had a standard 2 prong plug I suppose. Now I know why some of those old cloth covered power cords were so twisted and knarly. So maybe early radios didn't have power switches, and the idea was to use the one on the lamp socket. Electrical Engineering has come a long way.

marv

:It is my understanding that you removed the light bulb from its socket and then screwed that into the light socket for power. ie "Socket power"
:Greg
:
:
::hi guys,i have this philco socket power 'a' battery substitute,it has a socket that looks like it might be for one of those old-fashion screw-in fuse,is that what it's for??thanks,phil

:Well now that makes a little sense, but the lamp still had a standard 2 prong plug I suppose. Now I know why some of those old cloth covered power cords were so twisted and knarly. So maybe early radios didn't have power switches, and the idea was to use the one on the lamp socket. Electrical Engineering has come a long way.
:
:marv
:i don't think you understand ,this socket power a type a-60 is a power supply operating on a/c to substitute for the 'a' battery in a 'farm' radio.ron has a pic in his book on page 9.this is a large wooden box approx. 12in. by 10in. by 10in.its way to large to plug into a light socket,thanks,phil
::It is my understanding that you removed the light bulb from its socket and then screwed that into the light socket for power. ie "Socket power"
::Greg
::
::
:::hi guys,i have this philco socket power 'a' battery substitute,it has a socket that looks like it might be for one of those old-fashion screw-in fuse,is that what it's for??thanks,phil

Many houses, when they first got electricity only had lighting, which was a luxury. Many did not have the typical plugins we see today. Consider what was involved in converting a house with gas or no lighting over to electic. For example the wire method that was used was knob and tubing wireing. This required that the ceilings and walls be opened up so that the wire could be run. Today you just fish romex through the wall cavity. Just a light with a switch would have been quite labor intensive. In my house you can see where they opened up the hardwood floor to install electric lights. I also found the old gas lighting pipes in the floor joists. They followed the gas lines when they could and installed the electric light fixtures. When ac radio came out some had the screw in type light socket plug. You could also by an adapter that would screw into the light fixture that fit the two prong plug. This adapter is still available today. MUMBLE JUMBLE

MRO

Adding to Mark's reply, you have to remember(for the younger members, imagine) that when a house first installed electricity it was for lighting purposes and a lot was surface wire with two single conductors porclein supports or knobs (both two piece affairs but one was rectangular and supported two wires, the other was round and supported one wire). When you looked at the completed wiring it looked exactly like a schematic diagram but written upon the walls and and ceiling. Ground was a white wire and high was black. In the beginning (sounds like Genesis)every thing was hard wired, no receptacles, duplex or otherwise. The reason was simple, you did not have appliances that plugged in! The appliances came along later. The reference to the conversion from gas to electric reminds me that I still have a few "electrical " fittings that were designed to cap the gas pipe at the fixture and supply the mounting support foe the electrical fixture. I confirmed that this was what they were for when I was helping a friend replace a ceiling fixture in his house in Brooklyn. I started to remove this old mounting cap and low and behold the pipe it was threaded on was still "live", I could smell the gas escaping and was quick to retighten that fitting. For the above reasons some of the earlier radios used the light socket fixture. Pat

Maybe they should have made a gas powered radio.....

Ano

:hi guys,i have this philco socket power 'a' battery substitute,it has a socket that looks like it might be for one of those old-fashion screw-in fuse,is that what it's for??thanks,phil

Phil,
Philco made several Socket Power models. The "B" battery eliminators were the more common variety. Philco also made a combination "A" and "B" battery eliminator. That one had a socket for a light bulb in the unit as part of the trickle charger circuit. Is yours a "B" or an "A & B" socket power unit as described on the front plate?

Philco made ample use of light bulbs to kep the price of their eleminators low. Most of their A battery eleminators consisted of naught but a light bulb in series with an electrolytic rectifier trickle charging a small storage battery. Their basic B eliminator used a bell ringing transformer with its low voltage winding connected across the AC line in series with a 50 watt light bulb. The transformer served to isolate the eliminator circuit from the power line and to slightly step up the power line voltage. The current was rectified by a 4 cell electrolytic rectifier, connected in the well-known Bridge" circuit, and filtered by a couple of 1 mfd condensers and another bell ringer, the promary of which served as a choke. Crude, but effective. Trace the wiring. I do suspect that you will find that the lamp socket is in series with the remnants of the original rectifier in your A supply.

::hi guys,i have this philco socket power 'a' battery substitute,it has a socket that looks like it might be for one of those old-fashion screw-in fuse,is that what it's for??thanks,phil
:
:Phil,
:Philco made several Socket Power models. The "B" battery eliminators were the more common variety. Philco also made a combination "A" and "B" battery eliminator. That one had a socket for a light bulb in the unit as part of the trickle charger circuit. Is yours a "B" or an "A & B" socket power unit as described on the front plate?
: