DIYbanter - View Single Post - Old fashioned car battery charger technology

Adrian C

wrote:
wrote:
On 13 Sep, 16:18, "Bob Eager" wrote:
On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:47:27 UTC, wrote:

Hi all,
Just an academic question.
What used to be used in Car Battery charger to convert the AC - DC
before silicon diodes/bridge rectifiers came along?

Any of the following:
vibrator rectifier
synchronous motor with commutator rectifier
tungar mercury discharge diode

Nice picture of a mercury rectifier here (bottom picture)
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/b/belsize_park_deep_shelter/index.shtml
and
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/b/belsize_park_deep_shelter/index13.shtml

Kind of reminds me of casper the friendly ghost...

--
Adrian C