Can you guys help me out?
I just moved into my new house in Minneapolis, which was built in 1939. I have this switch in my kitchen and I can't figure out what it's for. Underneath the metal cap, there is a spot to install a small lightbulb. Does anyone know what this does, or what it was used for? When I turn it on, nothing happens.
>>916979
what do the wires on the back look like?
....never seen one before.. but if I had to guess maybe the switch is for lights elsewhere in the house and the small light on the plate is to let you know that they are on...
>>916979
It is a light to indicate the switch is on.
>>916990
yes, typically a garage light.
that's and antique fuse holder for the old glass type screw in fuses, that's why there's an f on the switch there- it probably went to something they ran a dedicated line to and was never removed in a retrofit - the holes are because for a short time glass fuses with neon gas in them were popular, so when the fuse blew it would glow orange - we used to have one in an old house, thy still sell am modern version of that same thing
modern version for reference
>>916992
Wow, thanks! Any idea what it would power, or was that switch used on many things? I just found an electric bell underneath my sink. Nothing turns it on though
>>916996
anything from a light to an ac to a fridge no knowing without ripping wires out if it's in the same area, they were used for anything and everything because in the 30's there were few electric devices, so boxes were small, as electrical needs grew they would use these to run new appliances without needing to change the whole box or add another appliance to an already stressed box
the bell may have been a servant bell, with the switch in another room long since removed
>>916979
I've seen these where they were used as a nightlight, nothing more than a nightlight.
The ones I have seen, the socket is not large enough for a screw-base fuse, but is the right size for a E-12 "Candelabra" base light bulb.
From the OP picture that metal cover is not large enough for a screw-base fuse.
I think I've even save a few of those fixtures for my "oddities" box of weird hardware.
It could be a switch for an inline or external exhaust fan. The light reminds you it's on because you may not be able to hear it inside. Is there anything on the outside wall that looks like pic? I'm thinking about installing one to supplement the over-the-range microwave weak vent suction.
Also called a pilot light switch.
A few of my Minneapolis and St. Paul friends houses are the age of yours.
>>917193
>>917193
>>917195
>>916979
Welcome to Minnesota! Family here uses lighted switches to turn on a outlet outside for block heaters on vehicles...
In your kitchen you say?
Refrigerator or Electric cooker - We still use a modern version of that exact device as a remote off switch for electric cookers. Look around the walls nearby, see if there is a blank plate with a small hole for a cable to go.
Then you can just use a multimeter to check continuity between the outlet and switch.
They were installed to ensure people didn't just force a standard plug onto a cooker (Which in the UK requires the use of a heavy duty cable and dedicated switch and maybe even it's own RCD although don't quote me on that).
Ireland and iirc Australia have something along those lines for all mains connected devices but in the UK it's just cookers that need them.
>>917241
we don't use things like that in the us because our mains electrics are 120 and cookers take 220, so they take a special socket and cable anyway
>>917467
I use mine for the roof deicer wire
>>917288
wtf is a cooker? do you mean "oven"?
>>917220
When my dad moved to vermont he burned through 3 radiators before installing a blockheater. The shitty nissan radiator would shrink in the cold and the seals would leak. Pathetic engineering if you ask me.
>>918156
An Oven implies it's just, yannow, an oven. Like for making bread. Or a roast.
A cooker is usually an oven, plus grill, plus hob in one standalone unit. It's a generic term. Much like how Hoover is a generic term for a vacum cleaner.
>>917288
UK runs on 240 but cookers usually have a much higher amperage cable than standard because, well, they draw a lot more amps than most anything else in your house (sustained - toasters and kettles draw WAY more but for much shorter spells. Cookers may get left on for hours at a time).
No skin to me, I have a gas cooker.
>>918227
No they don't draw way more.
A kettle is limited to 3kw, which uncoincidentally is 13A*240V rounded down*. Each item on a cooker is typically 2kw, so a typical household cooker running all four rings and heating the oven will pull three times what a kettle does.
* they're actually limited to 2kw now; thanks EUbama.
>>918237
Meh, i didnt care enough about it to look it up. A kettle and cooker coil are almost the same technology, i mentally pegged them as being about the same power draw, but kettles cause havok with the national grid so i figured them for more - power companies actually pay very close attention to tv schedules because of the number of kettles all going on at the same time across the country, when an advert break hits.
My point was that cookers are supposed to use heavier wire that most other stuff because they draw a lot of amps for a long span of time, while similarly rated stuff like kettles have light cable because they are never supposed to be on long enough to overheat the flex.
And its rare you would run all the elements on a cooker for an extended period - leaving the oven on for 6 hours was my imagined scenario, bringing a cooker and kettle roughly in line. i should maybe have specified.
