Vintage BrookHirst DC motor starters.

[Mark W]

We are in the process of restoring 4 of a group of 5 Brookhirst DC motor starters from 1936.

These are a thing of beauty and the engineering in terms of interlocking and ratchet control is incredible.

These are all from the same pumping station that controlled well pumps and booster pumps.

There must have been thousands of these made and installed in industry here in the uk and around the world.

I personally have not seen any in service other then these, and even in museums they seem quite rare after such a large production run.

The feeder cables to these starters are also original 1936 vintage.

Very basic description from the top when you look inside........

Speed control variable resistance with external hand wheel operation.

Motor starting resistances which ratchet type external control lever

Motor overload trip coils

Main incoming contacts

Very bottom behind cover, main isolator.

In terms of a full technical description on how these dc motor starters operate, I am sure Lucien will do a far better job than me so over to you!!

Not that any of you will ever come across these but I am sure some of you may be interested and the past can help the future.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

I always wanted to use a starter of this type around the house to operate some inconspicuous piece of equipment such as an extractor fan. Even when operating in its normal industrial habitat, the sense of ceremony operating the ratchet handle is exciting and satisfying. I agree that the survival rate seems to have been very low despite the large amount of DC plant still in operation until recently.

Pity I can't be there and play with them too - Mark you will have to bring one along and plant it in the living room here when you come down.