I have a philips valve battery charger, very old and working, it has 2 huge rectifier valve. If anyone is interested I could post a photo. It is called a Philips Rectifier Type No 1370. The valves are Revell R49 and L49. Are these still obtainable anywhere?

G'day Jim,

If you'd like photos posted you can e-mail them to me, my address can be accessed by clicking on my username.

I would like to see pictures of the battery charger. It sounds like it might have a Mercury rectifier in it.

I can't find any information on the valve types listed.

Wayne.

Those are likely to be Barretters aka Ballast tubes? Iron filament in an atmosphere of Hydrogen, used as voltage / current regulators.

Marc

Sounds like the one I have, is the charger round? The barrettors are impossible to find for these.
P.S. Just checked, mine is a 1009 Philips, still looking for a regulator valve.
Peter

Barretter never totally died. I have had Metz flashguns that used Nickel Cadmium Batteries. These did have a bad habit at times of reversing polarity. Putting a fuse in would not be helpful charging, so a small barretter (like a grain of wheat globe) was built into the battery pack. This acted as a current limiter to prevent the transformer cooking.

I actually incorporated this into the no break that is on the fire scanner. If the battery is flattened a series globe actually limits the current and as the battery gains charge the voltage drop is lesser & the current rises. Saving the regulator, or transformer. I checked it recently & the 1998 battery is still good.

Marc