Mystery box

[randynavarro]

Anyone know what this / these are doing?

The deadfront cover actually showed the enclosure being used for fuses at one point (I didn't snap a pic of the cover.) The home is 1963 - long after fuses (normally) would have been used.

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[hausdok]

Hi,

Well, whatever it is, it stores electricity because it has to be drained first. So, some kind of, what is it they're called, "capacitor"?

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Jim Katen]

Anyone know what this / these are doing?

The deadfront cover actually showed the enclosure being used for fuses at one point (I didn't snap a pic of the cover.) The home is 1963 - long after fuses (normally) would have been used.

Low voltage relay system?

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[randynavarro]

There was nothing low voltage in the house (or around the grounds that I could see) 'cept for the doorbell.

There are electric baseboard heaters and I was thinking this was someone's attempt at controlling the t-stats in each room somehow but that idea doesn't make sense. How would they "control" the t-stats?

[JDSchlueter]

The tipoff is that the relays are Honeywell Brand. (Think heating and cooling controls..) Those are 24v heat relays. They allow 240 V baseboard heaters to be controlled by a standard low voltage thermostat. The transformer in that box is providing the 24 volt circuit for the relays. The units in your picture appear to control two circuits each.

Many times relays like that are not really relays, but bimetallic time delay switches that use a small heater that operates on 24 volts to cause the bimetallic strip to flex and thus close the 240 volt contacts. This allowed a slight delay when the thermostat calls for heat, and allows the unit to be almost dead silent. The general principle of a relay is still the same.

[Bill Kibbel]

I was gonna say what JD said, except he explained it better with more details!

[randynavarro]

The tipoff is that the relays are Honeywell Brand. (Think heating and cooling controls..) Those are 24v heat relays. They allow 240 V baseboard heaters to be controlled by a standard low voltage thermostat. The transformer in that box is providing the 24 volt circuit for the relays. The units in your picture appear to control two circuits each.

Many times relays like that are not really relays, but bimetallic time delay switches that use a small heater that operates on 24 volts to cause the bimetallic strip to flex and thus close the 240 volt contacts. This allowed a slight delay when the thermostat calls for heat, and allows the unit to be almost dead silent. The general principle of a relay is still the same.

Nice. Thank you, JD.

Pat myself on the back - I was on the right track thinking about the t-stats.

There's always something new. This was a run-of-the-mill 60's rambler - a dime a dozen, really. I could have almost inspected the place with a blind fold, then somebody had to go and install one of these things in it to stump the inspector!