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anon199
Anon
2015-Jan-20 10:15 pm
Any idea what this might be?It is on the wall in the kitchen of a 1950's house. The other side of the wall is finished so I can not see where the wiring goes. It is warm to the touch but there is no light coming from it. |
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adam9c1
Member
2015-Jan-20 10:24 pm
Here are my guesses:
- Remote bell for the front door - Remote humidity sensor - Remote bell for the landline telephone |
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TheMG Premium Member join:2007-09-04 Canada |
to anon199
There could be some more clues if you take a look behind the device (unscrew the wall plate cover). |
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IowaCowboyLost in the Supermarket Premium Member join:2010-10-16 Springfield, MA |
to anon199
I'd cut power to the whole house then pull the screws and see what's behind the hood.
I say cut power because it could be line voltage lurking back there.
Have a buddy ring the doorbell and see if any noise comes from it. Looks most likely to be a doorbell. The plate looks exactly like the wallplates on the outlets/switches in my previous residence in Iowa built in 1949. |
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3 recommendations |
to anon199
said by anon199 :It is warm to the touch but there is no light coming from it. It is a despard pilot light with burned out bulb. Probably used to indicate lights were left on out of view of the switch like the basement or garage. Cap unscrews revealing incandescent bulb. Here is one for sale on ebay: » www.ebay.com/itm/like/26 ··· vSB=true |
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contsole Premium Member join:2003-12-30 Newington, CT |
to anon199
I've only seen these in doctors' offices. They were used either to indicate that the lights were on behind a closed door, or to indicate who's next. |
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to Mr Matt
said by Mr Matt:It is a despard pilot light Agree it is most probably a pilot light, however hard to understand why it is warm if the bulb is burned out. Next step for the OP is to open it up and see what is behind the cover. As IowaCowboy posted whatever it is it is probably line voltage powered so take care playing with it. /tom |
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SparkChaser Premium Member join:2000-06-06 Downingtown, PA |
to anon199
I always remember them being neons. Got to open that so we can see |
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to anon199
If it is a neon the inside of the glass could be blackened to the point of being opaque from age. |
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said by keno5net:If it is a neon the inside of the glass could be blackened to the point of being opaque from age. How long would that be? There are three switches at home that are older than 50 years and have lighted neon lights inside when the switch is off. They still glow. |
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I'm not sure. I have seen some neon lamps that get black inside like the ends of florescent lamps. Possibly cheap or leaky ones. The other way it could be off and still warm is if it is a transformer lamp socket. |
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SparkChaser Premium Member join:2000-06-06 Downingtown, PA |
said by keno5net: The other way it could be off and still warm is if it is a transformer lamp socket. That's what I was thinking. It might be an incandescent with a transformer giving off a little heat. |
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TheMG Premium Member join:2007-09-04 Canada MikroTik RB450G Cisco DPC3008 Cisco SPA112
1 recommendation |
to keno5net
said by keno5net:I'm not sure. I have seen some neon lamps that get black inside like the ends of florescent lamps. Possibly cheap or leaky ones. There are a few failure modes for neon bulbs. 1) Depletion of the neon gas by ion implantation. As the high voltage electrical field flows through the lamp, some neon atoms are "implanted" into the surfaces inside the tube, to put it simply. As the neon gas slowly depletes, the voltage required to keep it lit increases, the bulb start flickering and eventually will not light at al. 2) Over time, metal is slowly emitted from the electrodes and deposited on the inside of the glass, eventually rendering the bulb opaque. 3) Air leaking into the bulb (not a normal failure mode, usually the result of poor manufacturing, defects, or rough handling of the pins). |
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anon199 to Mr Matt
Anon
2015-Jan-21 5:08 pm
to Mr Matt
Mr Matt wins the chicken dinner. It is indeed an incandescent pilot lamp that comes on when the basement light is on. And it still works! The reason it was warm is that we turned off the light before we moved into the kitchen. We were touring a vacant house that is for sale. Never would have figured it out without the hint. Thanks all. |
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