Honeywell Temperature Regulator circa 1924 for 2 pipe steam

PhilDavid

Had a to replace a bad tstat for my last call today and was pleasantly surprised to find this antique Honeywell control hanging on the wall near the boiler. Owner said the original boiler was coal converted to oil and then replaced 20 something yrs ago. I’m guessing this was a damper control for the coal? This thing had two batteries a little bigger than a can of soda

JUGHNE

That is a true jewel of a device!
I bet HW had a clock builder on the payroll.
The pendulum weight maybe had to be pulled up every week?
The damper blade? looks like it was to maybe slow down the spinning of that shaft?

It is even marked with R-W-B for wire connections.
Was there any evidence of a 3 wire cable going upstairs?

Those dry cells were common up until the 50-60's.
Lead acid, 1.5 volts. I found a set in a closet that were still connected to the doorbell system. A transformer was added at a later date and the dry cells were still in the circuit. They actually showed some voltage after 30+ years.

PhilDavid

@JUGHNE If there was a 3 wire cable it’s been removed with no evidence of its existence. Just a very old (possibly original) two wire cable for the tstat. That old cable had a cloth like braided jacket. I didn’t even think to check those batteries for voltage as I was in such awe of the mechanics of this control

PhilDavid

@JUGHNE The gears inside definitely looked like they were from a large clock and you’re probably spot on. After gingerly removing the cover I was shocked at how well the condition of the gears were.

ch4man

setback thermostat for coal. common folks went to the basement for control. well off folks had levers in the kitchen to work the chains and the wealthy had automatic battery powered controls working the damper chains

neat stuff

nicholas bonham-carter

The big chore was taking out the clinkers from the firebox, and disposing of them somehow.
In our case, it meant Mr. Allen putting a plank on the basement steps, and giving the wheelbarrow load a run up the plank over to the dump area. This stopped when the old ARCO cracked a section, and was replaced with a gas fired boiler.
I still remember my grandfather saying, “he let the water get too low and filled it too quickly!”
There may have been some deferred maintenance involved, but Mr. Allen was suddenly no more (1951).—NBC

Steamhead

That regulator was designed to work without electricity in the building. The batteries powered the thermostat circuit, which triggered a release that let the weight fall by gravity and turn the gears, which moved the dampers via the chain. Not unlike how the movement in a pendulum clock works. This way they could use commonly-available batteries of the time, instead of the heavier ones that would be needed to move the dampers on their own.

The Dead Men really were geniuses.

JUGHNE

With the R-W-B connections do you think the chain direction be reversed for regulation? There looks like a solenoid coil on the upper right hand that perhaps could have slid a reversing gear into place. Just a WAG.

Steamhead

Possibly- that would have been Series 20 instead of Series 10. If we know the model number of that unit, we might be able to tell which Series it was.

PhilDavid

@JUGHNE That old tstat cable I replaced WAS a three wire colored red white and blue, I was mistaken.
@Steamhead Couldn’t find any model number or resemblance of. Just the manufacturer tag posted with the pics at top

DanHolohan

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Robert_25

Impressive example of engineering. Thanks for sharing.

Steamhead

PhilDavid said:

@JUGHNE That old tstat cable I replaced WAS a three wire colored red white and blue, I was mistaken.
@Steamhead Couldn’t find any model number or resemblance of. Just the manufacturer tag posted with the pics at top

Gotta find a manual for this thing- then we'll know for sure.

I still like to run 3-wire to thermostats- then I can feed electronic thermostats with 24V from the boiler, so they don't depend on batteries.

PhilDavid

@DanHolohan Honered. You are very welcome
So what you don’t see in those pics is the beautifully well preserved boiler return trap and air eliminator trap. I was going to start a new thread but here you are... enjoy

DanHolohan

@PhilDavid I love it. Thanks! Where is this place?

PhilDavid

Littleton, Massachusetts. The owner is a lovely elderly woman who has been living there for about ten years.

Double D

Barnes & Jones type C trap, female cover, 1/2"x3/4". Cage is still available.

PhilDavid

@Dan Holohan I own and have read Lost Art of Steam Heating so I realized right away that I’ve stumbled upon a absolute jewel and wasn’t too intimidated lol. And I thank you for that. No crossover trap. Guessing it was removed

DanHolohan

@PhilDavid, you made my day. Thanks!

PhilDavid

@DanHolohan No, thank you!
@DoubleD Thanks for the info. I wasn’t sure if I could rebuild these traps but I do now.
Are parts for the return trap and air eliminator obtainable? If I could I’d like to keep this system going as is for another 94yrs.

Double D

My guess is parts are available but @Sailah @Steamhead or @gerry gill may know.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@PhilDavid , that's museum quality. that looks like an old time quality job. Littleton? Near Fitchburg?

PhilDavid

@EBEBRATT-Ed yeah not far from Fitchburg. I thought the same thing. I’ve come across a few of these systems just outside Boston but none in such good shape.

Sailah

Double D said:

Barnes & Jones type C trap, female cover, 1/2"x3/4". Cage is still available.

@PhilDavid

Close, but that's a Barnes & Jones D type that was pictured earlier. Has a male cover. Part number 1781 is the repair kit. Available in MA from any FW Webb.

C type has female cover and you can see the cover line in the pic

Condensator parts are NLA sorry.

PhilDavid

@Sailah Awesome thanks!