¿ªÔÆÌåÓýIIRC, years ago household ¡°silent¡± light switches were mercury switches.? That would be the Avanti era, the 1960s. ? ? From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of
Charles Kinzer
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2024 10:10 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Unimat] Mercury on the Loose ? Yes.? That's exactly what's in my 1964 Studebaker Avanti.? A mercury switch also used to be commonly used in household thermostats,? It was attached to a bi metal coil that expanded and contracted with heat and tilted the switch to turn the heater on and off.? I think all such applications are now banned.. ? On a related note, when about 10 years old a friend had a little vial of mercury.? He showed me you could keep rubbing and rubbing a drop of it on a penny and mercury would bond to the surface in a very thin film making the penny look silver.? So, of course, I did that to one myself.? Maybe this is a reason why it is also called "quicksilver."? Perhaps that is also the reason I make misspellings today. ? Charles E. "Chuck" Kinzer ? ? ? ? ? On Wednesday, July 17, 2024 at 09:43:58 AM PDT, Jkle379184 via groups.io <jkle379184@...> wrote: ? ? I am old enough to remember when cars used Mercury switch under the hood and in the trunk. When you would lift them up the Mercury moved to the end of a vail and made contact. And the lights would go on. ?Jeff ? On Wednesday, July 17, 2024 at 12:10:49 PM EDT, pat goodyear <pgoodyear@...> wrote: ? ? So 30+ years ago we rearranged our Instrument Shop, clean everything out toss and replace with new stuff.? ?One of the items was a quart plastic bottle about half full of mercury recovered from broken thermometers and switches etc.? Several instruments and control devices used mercury switches.? ?Anyhow we are talking a pint or more of pure mercury.? ? It was set aside for disposal and someone just threw it into a dumpster, the weight alone should have cued them in.? ?We never found it.? ? ? On another note: My older brother decided to metal detect an area where a gold smelter used to be, he found a large pool of mercury in the bottom of the creek, beneath the soil, he left it be.? ?? ? In the hills near where I live on the California central coast there are several marked mercury mines.? ?? ? ? ? |
