??? Any idea what this is???

Robert O'Connor_12

Hello WALL!
It's been a while. Hope everyone is doing well. I saw this in another forum. any clue as to what it is?


Robert O'Connor/NJ

Fred

Crazy! I'd like to know what that is too.

RomanP

Wow.

leonz

I think it is an old wet steam heater with a small firebox and ash drawer. there would have been small series of smoke holes surrounding the tapered hot water pipe stack that was piped off to the nearest chimney with the outer ring acting as a base connection for the chimney pipe connection

The top plug was removed and water was added to it and the u trap was drained as needed when the water in the U trap was filling the trap completely preventing the wet steam from exiting the stack quickly to the second riser and beyond

It reminds me of the old wood fired metal shell within a shell hot water heaters from Mexico that had a conical teepee type firebox and small diameter 3 inch chimney smoke stack .
If I remember right you filled the water heater with water at the top by removing a pipe plug and you started your fire and then when the water was hot enough you used it. Some of them were hooked up to large roof mounted water tanks to provide hot water under gravity pressure.

in the picture you provided I think it had a chimney stack connection surrounding the base of the pipe-hence the rust on the conical pipe section.

JUGHNE

Did see a picture of a clothes drier closet somewhere.
But the firebox was outside of the closet.

This seems to be in to much of a formal (upstairs) place in the house? for that function. Usually would be in the downstairs kitchen/laundry.

ChrisJ

@Dan Holohan @Steamhead

Steamhead

Got me. There might be a fireplace to the right of this thing, but the pipe goes off the the left. And if that's a firebox, it's pretty small..........

HVACNUT

The first camping trip I took in Boy Scouts, the olders guys sent us to other troops at the site to find and borrow a Left Handed Smoke Shifter.
I think I finally found it.

GBart

??????

Shalom

Goliath's saxophone, maybe.

GBart

Actually it is a steam powered horn, in 1868 England, Lord Flatulance was tired of waiting for his son to get up in the morning so he had the local pipefitter invent this horn so he could flip a valve in the dining room and get his son out of bed pronto. It is one of a kind.

Fred

GBart said:

Actually it is a steam powered horn, in 1868 England, Lord Flatulance was tired of waiting for his son to get up in the morning so he had the local pipefitter invent this horn so he could flip a valve in the dining room and get his son out of bed pronto. It is one of a kind.

Yea, Right

STEVEusaPA

GBart said:

Actually it is a steam powered horn, in 1868 England, Lord Flatulance ...

It actually was Lord of Flatulance

I really hope we get an answer on this, I, like many are very curious. I think @leonz has the best response so far.

GBart

Fred said:

GBart said:

Actually it is a steam powered horn, in 1868 England, Lord Flatulance was tired of waiting for his son to get up in the morning so he had the local pipefitter invent this horn so he could flip a valve in the dining room and get his son out of bed pronto. It is one of a kind.

Yea, Right

gee what gave it away??

GBart

I even have a picture, my lords and ladies, Lord Flatulance

Robert O'Connor_12

I still don't have a clue! LOL
I figured if anyone would know, you guys would.

Robert O'Connor/NJ

Shalom

GBart said:

Lord Flatulance .

Reminds me of the (in)famous Crepitation Contest of 1940, between Paul Boomer of Australia and Lord Windesmeare of Wopping Foghole, England.

I won't link it, but it's out there. Narrated by Sydney S, Brown, incidentally, who was one of Canada's top sportscasters of the day.

ChrisJ

Sir loin of Beef also had one in his house as well.

Zman

I think you guys are going in the right direction.
My guess is that it is in a place of worship and in part of an organ. I am thinking 200 year old subwoofer.

Steamhead

ChrisJ said:

Sir loin of Beef also had one in his house as well.

I think Emperor Tuchasfaceius did too.

GBart

It is definitely odd, doubt there was any type of fire in it, but there seems to be some tin lining inside the cabinet, maybe some sort of horn driven by steam with the trap to protect it from water?? which would have to be manually drained?

Gsmith

What was the context of hte original picture? What type structure was it in? What type room? Is there anything of interest in the room near the cabinet?

Danny Scully

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”

GBart

looks like a church or mansion

ScottSecor

Could it be for the pipe organ?

STEVEusaPA

Is it the Pope/No Pope machine?

ChrisJ

Looks like something from Dr Seuss

Fred

It looks like the metal liner on the inside of that right door has rusted away. It must have something to do with steam, a humidifier, or something that involved water/moisture.

Zman

You guys are almost as funny as this guy
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/08dd04085e/interesting-names-for-terrorists-from-thaffner

lchmb

some guy probably built this thing thinking "in 100 years they are going to be completely stumped"... he was right...

Ironman

The Duke of Earl obtained this at the request of his lunatic son, Baron of Gray Matter. The poor boy was an infamous drug addict and he thought this was a giant bong!

the_donut

Is it next to a baptismal font?

HVACNUT

Looks like there was a plate stamping on the clean spot on the front of the box.
Did it feed a small room for an early gas/poison chamber?

Gordy

It's a smoker piped to the meat smoking chamber..........

Larry Weingarten

It sure would be nice to get more photos of the unit, with any doors open, etc, so we could get a better idea what the true function might be. With the extended flue pipe, it seems to be some sort of space heater.... or maybe a combo heater/bong?

Yours, Larry

ps. Notice the thin metal doors? Lends credence to the idea of a heater.

DanHolohan

I think it's a room heater.

DanHolohan

Lol