Muter Grid Leak Drip Pan - is this Snake oil ?

[kagliostro]

Is this thing pure snake oil ??

K

[sluckey]

Is this thing pure snake oil ??

K

no

[kagliostro]

Ciao Steve

OK, no snake oil

Which is the purpose ?

I wasn't able to understand it

is it simply a joke ?

something like a bottle of vacuum to replentish your weak tubes ?

Franco

[sluckey]

Yes, it's a joke. Something an old timer might say to the new kid on the job. 

[kagliostro]

Ah, OK now it has a sense

Franco

[Ed_Chambley]

Not true Sluckey!  It is necessary adapter for a muffler bearing and should be kept in the same can as your light bulb polish.

Anyway, I am going to get my tailgate stretcher as soon as I can find the keys to the quad.

[PRR]

> Is this thing pure snake oil ??

No. More like left-over worm-oil.

It is a joke.

It makes fun of newbies who might think a "grid leak" might need a "drip pan".

> a bottle of vacuum to replenish your weak tubes ?

Yes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe_hunt

In construction, a "left handed screwdriver", "board stretcher", "eye measures", "hammer grease", "wall expander", "glass hammer", "striped or tartan paint", "metric crescent wrench", or "box of assorted knots" are the analogous pranks.

In Switzerland, it is common for a painter to send his apprentice for a "frog hair brush" and for electricians to advise their apprentices to "wipe up the voltage drops".

In the U.S. Navy, sending a new sailor after ... "red lamp oil for the port running light" and "green lamp oil for the starboard running light" are similar pranks.
First-time crew on carriers are occasionally assigned a "sea-bat" watch, in order to ensure "sea-bats" do not infest the aircraft engines.

In the Canadian military, a common joke is tasking a new soldier to find a "brass magnet" to ease the collection of spent ammunition casings.

In Boy Scouts, sending a new camper after a "Left Handed Smoke Shifter"

In the Czech Republic, if one breaks a spirit level, they might be asked to go and "buy a new bubble". Other construction related jokes include buying a "brick bender".

In the Czech Republic, a child might be sent to the pharmacy to buy some "semosel". Spelled correctly, "jsem osel" means I am a fool, or literally "I am a donkey".

My father sent the new engineer to borrow a "One Farad Capacitor". Everybody he asked was "just out, sorry!" and sent the kid somewhere else to try and get one. Nobody told him that IF there was such a thing as a 1 Farad cap, he would need a hand-truck to bring it back. (Today the joke makes less sense-- you can buy One Farad at car-sound stores.)

[kagliostro]

Hi PRR

wonders of the technical progress

here we have a 1.5 Farad Cap you can handle



and here a teacup for lefties 



Ciao

Franco

[DummyLoad]

oilfield: hey you! worm! go get the key to the V door from the company man...


--pete

[kagliostro]

At first glance, like many, I thought K, was not asking a serious question

Must to be remembered that english isn't my language and sometime I'm not able to keep the right meaning of a sentence

Ciao

Franco

[kagliostro]

No apology is necessary 

Franco

[sluckey]

From the search, it appears that some grid leak resistors could have been dipped in a resin, or other hydrocarbon, which would increase heat transfer.  Sometimes the "resin" will ooze out, and  for this reason it is possible that the drip pan was invented.  I made the mistake of calling this ooze "snake oil", I hope you accept my apologies.

 

[PRR]

Here is a 1934 reference to "special large size grid-leak drip pan" for "tremendous unneeded amount strong signals".

I apologize for the mockery of Japanese people. Making fun of non-Americans was common at the time, and widely accepted. (We also made fun of all types of non-White Americans.)

I am also sure it was written by an American with very little knowledge of Japan or her people, culture, language, and technology.

It is hard to read today because it is very wordy. Older magazines were packed full of words because readers had time to read before TV came along.

The reference to "coupon"-- some radio magazines would answer questions for a small fee. It may be they also asked for a coupon clipped from the magazine to prove you had bought a copy. Of course the best questions and answers were published for general information, and to fill-up more pages.

[Ed_Chambley]

Another photo.  Is it real? I am looking to see if I can find one in one of my old sets.  So far I have not seen one.  Funny every time I think of this.

[PRR]

> looking to see if I can find one in one of my old sets.

Yes, that is a Grid Leak.

Early radios had very few resistors. Resistors waste energy. Between batteries and weak signals and amplifiers, there was no energy to waste.

But a "grid detector" needs a super-high audio impedance. You want "a small leak of electricity". A choke can't be made good enough. A pencil-line on paper does work fine. Early radios used pencil or ink (carbon) on paper or cloth. For lasting results you have to keep the dampness out, so they used glass tubes. Since in those days all radio-parts failed, they snapped into little clips for instant replacement.

The paper advertisement is clearly "joking". Maybe? Perhaps? Who Cares? That's not how sales-men talk. This IS the best! You will LOVE it! No 'maybe' about it!

I think the object on the wood block is a real grid-leak with a "fake" Muter pan made-up for the joke. It would not take a tin-bender very long to make that and stamp "MUTER" on it.

If it hangs on metal tabs or wires, it shorts-out the resistor, and that will kill radio reception.

However there are no grid-stains on the wood block, so I guess the Grid Leak Drip Pan does work!