Old Thingy Needs ID

[Jerry Simon]

Bill K, or anyone else....waz zis? From a 1907 house attic. Had a disconnected 120-volt whip hanging off the bottom, and those side bracket things rotated. Thanks.

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[Jim Morrison]

1907? Kibbell was only in his early 20's back then. He won't know...

Well, it's clearly an electrical shutoff. The question is: for what? Could there have been a large whole house fan at one time?

[Steven Hockstein]

Try this site. Maybe you can find it.

www.eaton.com/EatonCom/Markets/Electric ... /index.htm

[Kyle Kubs]

I take it thats the only picture/angle you have? Didn't open it up?

It looks a little like the mechanism that automatically opens the louvers in the ceiling when a house ventilation fan in the attic is powered on.

[Inspectorjoe]

I think Kyle might have it, or at least is close: a louver or damper actuator.

It looks like one that would be part of an HVAC economizer, not that you would find that setup in an old house. It looks like there are mounting holes for another pin on the far side of the arm. As the arm rotated, via rods, one damper would be opened while another closed.

Maybe that unit was salvaged from a commercial building and put to a new use. Or maybe not.

More than you want to know about economizers

[Bill Kibbel]

Is there a picture of the top of the "thingie"?

I'm guessing it's a remote disconnect. I've seen overhead disconnects that look similar serving old manufacturing equipment.