Cyclopedia of Telephony and Telegraphy Volume Ii Part 15

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 415. Mercury-Arc Rectifier Circuits]

The circuit of a mercury-arc rectifier charging outfit is shown in Fig.

415. The mercury-arc rectifier proper consists of a gla.s.s bulb containing vacuum and a small amount of mercury. When its terminals are connected, as indicated--the two anodes across an alternating-current source and the cathode with a circuit that is to be supplied with direct current--this device has the peculiarity of action that current will flow alternately from the two anodes always to the cathode and never from it. The cathode, therefore, becomes a source of positive potential and, as such, is used in charging the storage battery through the series reactance coil and the compensating reactances, as indicated. The line transformer shown at the upper portion of Fig. 415, is the one for converting the high-potential alternating current to the comparatively low-potential current required for the action of the rectifier. The transformer below this has a one-to-one ratio, and is called the insulating transformer. Its purpose is to safeguard the telephone apparatus and circuits against abnormal potentials from the line, and also to prevent the ground, which is commonly placed on the neutral wire of transformers on commercial lighting circuits, from interfering with the ground that is commonly placed on the positive pole of the central-office battery.

=Provision Against Breakdown.= In order to provide against breakdown of service, a well-designed telephone power plant should have available more than one primary source of power and more than one charging unit and ringing unit.

_Duplicate Primary Sources._ In large cities where the commercial power service is highly developed and a breakdown of the generating station is practically impossible, it is customary to depend on that service alone.

In order to insure against loss of power due to an accident to portions of the distributing system, it is the common custom to run two entirely separate power leads into the office, coming, if possible, from different parts of the system so that a breakdown on one section will not deprive the telephone exchange of primary power. In smaller places where the commercial service is not so reliable, it is usual to provide, in addition to the commercial electric-power service, an independent source of power in the form of a gas or steam engine. This may be run as a regular source, the commercial service being employed as an emergency or _vice versa_, as economy may dictate. In providing a gas engine for driving charging dynamos, it is important to obtain one having as good regulation as possible, in order to obtain a charging current of practically constant voltage.

_Duplicate Charging Machines._ The storage batteries of telephone exchanges are usually provided of sufficient capacity to supply the direct-current needs of the office for twenty-four hours after a full charge has been given them. This in itself is a strong safeguard against breakdown. In addition to this the charging machines should be in duplicate, so that a burnt-out armature or other damage to one of the charging units will not disable the plant.

_Duplicate Ringing Machines._ It is equally important that the ringing machines, whether of the rotary or vibrating type, be in duplicate. For large exchanges the ringing machines are usually dynamos, and it is not unusual to have one of these driven from the commercial power mains and the other from the storage battery. With this arrangement complete failure of all sources of primary power would still leave the exchange operative as long as sufficient charge remains in the storage battery.

_Capacity of Power Units._ In designing telephone switchboards it is the common practice to so design the frameworks that the s.p.a.ce for multiple jacks is in excess of that required for the original installation. In a like manner, the power plant is also designed with a view of being readily increased in capacity to an amount sufficient to provide current for the ultimate number of subscribers' lines for which the switchboard is designed. The motor generators, or whatever means are provided for charging the storage batteries, are usually installed of sufficient size to care for the ultimate requirements of the office. The ringing machines are also provided for the ultimate equipment. However, in the case of the storage battery, it is common practice to provide the battery tanks of sufficient size to care for the ultimate capacity, while the plates are installed for a capacity only slightly in excess of that required for the original installation. As the equipment of subscribers' lines is increased, additional plates may, therefore, be added to the cells without replacing the storage battery as a whole, and without making extraordinary provisions to prevent the interruption of service. It is also customary to provide charging and supply leads from the storage battery of carrying capacity sufficient for the ultimate requirements of the office.

=Storage Battery.= The storage battery is the power plant element which has made common-battery systems possible. The common-battery system is the element which has made the present wide development of telephony possible.

A storage-battery cell is an electro-chemical device in which a chemical state is changed by the pa.s.sage of current through the cell, this state tending to revert when a current is allowed to flow in the opposite direction. A storage cell consists of two conductors in a solution, the nature and the relation of these three elements being such that when a direct current is made to pa.s.s from one conductor to the other through the solution, the compelled chemical change is proportional to the product of the current and its duration. When the two conductors are joined by a path over which current may flow, a current does flow in the opposite direction to that which charged the cell.

All storage batteries so far in extensive use in telephone systems are composed of lead plates in a solution of sulphuric acid in water called the _electrolyte_. In charging, the current tends to oxidize the lead of one plate and de-oxidize the other. In discharging, the tendency is toward equilibrium.

The containers, employed in telephone work, for the plates and electrolyte are either of gla.s.s or wood with a lead lining, the gla.s.s jars being used for the smaller sized plates of small capacity cells, while the lead-lined wooden tanks are employed with the larger capacity cells. The potential of a cell is slightly over two volts and is independent of the shape or size of the plates for a given type of battery. The storage capacity of a cell is determined by the size and the number of plates. Therefore, by increasing the number of plates and the areas of their surfaces, the ampere-hour capacity of the cell is correspondingly increased. The desired potential of the battery is obtained by connecting the proper number of cells in series.

Storage-battery cells used in telephone work vary from 2 plates having an area of 12 square inches each, to cells having over 50 plates, each plate having an area of 240 square inches. The ampere-hour capacity of these batteries varies from 6 ampere hours to 4,000 ampere hours, respectively, when used at an average 8-hour discharge rate. In Fig. 416 is ill.u.s.trated a storage cell employing a gla.s.s container and having fifteen plates. Each plate is 11 inches high and 10-1/2 inches wide, with an area, therefore, of 115.5 square inches. Such a cell has a normal capacity of 560 ampere hours. The type ill.u.s.trated is one made by the Electric Storage Battery Company of Philadelphia, Pa.[A]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 416. Storage Cell]

_Installation._ In installing the gla.s.s jars it is customary to place them in trays partially filled with sand. They are, however, at times installed on insulators so designed as to prevent moisture from causing leakage between the cells. The cells using wooden tanks are placed on gla.s.s or porcelain insulators, and the tanks are placed with enough clearance between them to prevent the lead lining of adjacent tanks from being in contact and thereby short-circuiting the cells. After the positive and the negative plates have been installed in the tanks, their respective terminals are connected to bus bars, these bus bars being, for the small types of battery, lead-covered clamping bolts, while in the larger types reinforced lead bus bars are employed, to which the plates are securely joined by a process called lead burning. This process consists in melting a portion of the bus bar and the terminal lug of the plate by a flame of very high temperature, thus fusing each individual plate to the proper bus bar. The plates of adjacent cells are connected to the same bus bar, thus eliminating the necessity of any other connection between the cells.

_Initial Charge._ As soon as the plates have been installed in the tanks and welded to the bus bars, the cell should be filled with electrolyte having a specific gravity of 1.180 to 1.190 to one-half inch above the tops of the plates and then the charge should be immediately started at about the normal rate. In the case of a battery consisting of cells of large capacity, it is customary to place the electrolyte in the cells as nearly simultaneously as possible rather than to completely fill the cells in consecutive order. When the electrolyte is placed in the cells simultaneously, the charge is started at a very much reduced rate before the cells are completely filled, the rate being increased as the cells are filled, the normal rate of charge being reached when the cells are completely filled. Readings should be taken hourly of the specific gravity and temperature of the electrolyte, voltage of the cells, and amperage of charging current. A record or log should be kept of the specific gravity and voltage of each of the cells of the battery regularly during the life of the battery and it is well to commence this record with the initial charge.

The initial charge should be maintained for at least ten hours after the time when the voltage and specific gravity have reached a maximum. If for any reason it is impractical to continue the initial charge uninterrupted, the first period of charging should be at least from twelve to fifteen hours. However, every effort should be made to have the initial charge continuous, as an interruption tends to increase the time necessary for the initial charge, and if the time be too long between the periods of the initial charge, the efficiency and capacity of the cells are liable to be affected. In case of a large battery, precaution should be taken to insure that the ventilation is exceptionally good, because if it is not good the temperature is liable to increase considerably and thereby cause an undue amount of evaporation from the cells.

The object of the temperature readings taken during the charge is to enable corrections to be made to the specific gravity readings as obtained by the hydrometer, in order that the correct specific gravity may be ascertained. This correction is made by adding .001 specific gravity for each three degrees in temperature above 70 Fahrenheit, or subtracting the same amount for each three degrees below 70 Fahrenheit.

At the time the cells begin to gas they should be gone over carefully to see that they gas evenly, and also to detect and remedy early in the charging period any defects which may exist. If there is any doubt in regard to the time at which the cells reach a maximum voltage and specific gravity, the charge should be continued sufficiently long before the last ten hours of the charge are commenced to eliminate any such doubt, as in many cases poor efficiency and low capacity of a cell later in its life may be traced to an insufficient initial charge.

_Operation._ After the battery has been put in commission the periodic charges should be carefully watched, as excessive charging causes disintegration and decreases the life and capacity of the battery; while, on the other hand, undercharging will result in sulphating of the plates and decrease of capacity, and, if the undercharge be great, will result in a disintegration of the plates. It is, therefore, essential that the battery be charged regularly and at the rate specified for the particular battery in question. In order to minimize the chance of either continuously overcharging or undercharging the battery, the charges are divided into two cla.s.ses, namely, regular charges and overcharges. The regular charges are the periodic charges for the purpose of restoring the capacity of the battery after discharge. The overcharges, which should occur once a week or once in every two weeks, according to the use of the battery, are for the purpose of insuring that all cells have received their proper charge, for reducing such sulphating as may have occurred on cells undercharged, and for keeping the plates, in general, in a healthy condition. The specific gravity of the electrolyte, the voltage of the battery, and the amount of gasing observed are all indications of the amount of charge which the battery has received and should all be considered when practicable. Either the specific gravity or voltage may be used as the routine method of determining the proper charge, but, however, if the proper charge is determined by the voltage readings, this should be frequently checked by the specific gravity, and _vice versa_.

During the charging and discharging of a battery the level of the electrolyte in the cells will fall. As the portion of the electrolyte which is evaporated is mainly water, the electrolyte may be readily restored to its normal level by adding distilled water or carefully collected rain water.

_Pilot Cell._ As the specific gravity of all the cells of a battery, after having once been properly adjusted, will vary the same in all the cells during use, it has been found satisfactory to use one cell, commonly termed the pilot cell, for taking the regular specific gravity readings and only reading the specific gravity of all the cells occasionally or on the overcharge. This cell must be representative of all the cells of the battery, and if the battery is so subdivided in use that several sets of cells are liable to receive different usage, a pilot cell should be selected for each group.

_Overcharge._ If the battery is charged daily, it should receive an overcharge once a week, or if charged less frequently, an overcharge should be given at least once every two weeks. In making an overcharge this should be done at a constant rate and at a rate specified for the battery. During the overcharge the voltage of the battery and the specific gravity of the pilot cell should be taken every fifteen minutes from the time the gasing begins. The charge should be continued until five consecutive, specific-gravity readings are practically the same.

The voltage of the battery should not increase during the last hour of the charge.

As the princ.i.p.al object of the overcharge is to insure that all of the cells have received the proper charge, it must, therefore, be continued long enough to not only properly charge the most efficient cells, but also to properly charge those which are lower in efficiency. The longer the interval between overcharges, the greater will be the variation between the cells and, therefore, it is necessary to continue the overcharge longer when the interval between overcharges is as great as two weeks. Before the overcharge is made the cells should be carefully inspected for short circuits and other abnormal conditions. These inspections may best be made by submerging an electric lamp in the cell, if the cell be of wood, or of allowing it to s.h.i.+ne through from the outside, if it be of gla.s.s. By this means any foreign material may be readily detected and removed before serious damage is caused. In making these inspections it must be borne in mind that whatever tools or implements are used must be non-metallic and of some insulating material.

_Regular Charge._ Regular charges are the periodic charges for restoring the capacity of the battery, and should be made as frequently as the use of the battery demands. The voltage of the cells is a good guide for determining when the battery should be recharged. The voltage of a cell should never be allowed to drop below 1.8 volts, and it is usually considered better practice to recharge when the battery has reached 1.9 volts. If a battery is to remain idle for even a short time, it should be left in a completely charged condition.

The regular charges for cells completely equipped with plates should be continued until the specific gravity of the pilot cell has risen to five points below the maximum attained on the preceding overcharge, or, if only partially equipped with plates, until it has risen to three points below the previous maximum. The voltage per cell at this time should be from .05 volts to .1 volts below that obtained on the previous overcharge. At this time all the cells should be gasing, but not as freely as on an overcharge.

_Low Cells._ An unhealthy condition in a cell usually manifests itself in one of the following ways: Falling off in specific gravity or voltage relative to the rest of the cells, lack of gasing when charged, and color of the plates, either noticeably lighter or darker than those of other cells of the battery. When any of the above conditions are found in a cell, the cell should receive immediate attention, as a delay may mean serious trouble. The cell should be thoroughly inspected to determine if a short-circuit exists, either caused by some foreign substance, by an excess of sediment in the bottom of the tank, or by portions of the plates themselves. If such a condition is found, the cause should be immediately removed and, if the defect has been of short duration, the next overcharge will probably restore it to normal condition. If the defect has existed for some time, it is often necessary to give the cell a separate charge. This may be done by connecting it directly to the charging generator with temporary leads and thus bring it back to its normal condition. It is sometimes found necessary to replace the cell in order to restore the battery to its normal condition.

_Sediment._ The cells of the battery should be carefully watched to prevent the sediment which collects in the bottom of the jar or tank during use from reaching the bottom of the plates, thereby causing short circuits between them. When the sediment in the cell has reached within one-half inch of the bottom of the plates, it should be removed at once.

With small cells using gla.s.s jars this can most easily be done directly after an overcharge by carefully drawing off the electrolyte without disturbing the sediment and then removing it from the jar. The plates and electrolyte should be replaced in the jar as soon as convenient to prevent the plates from becoming dry. If the plates are large and in wooden tanks, the sediment can most easily be removed by means of a scoop made especially for the purpose. The preferable time to clean the tanks is just before an overcharge.

_Replacing Batteries._ There comes a time in the life of nearly every central-office equipment when the storage battery must be completely renewed. This is due to the fact that the life of even the best of storage batteries is not as great as the life of the average switchboard equipment. It may also be due to the necessity for greater capacity than can be secured with the existing battery tanks, usually caused by underestimating the traffic the office will be required to handle.

Again, it is sometimes necessary to make extensive alterations in an existing battery, perhaps due to the necessity for changing its location. To change a battery one cell at a time, keeping the others in commission meanwhile, has often been done, but it is always expensive and unsatisfactory and is likely to shorten the life of the battery, due to improper and irregular forming of the plates during the initial charge. The advent of the electric automobile industry has brought with it a convenient means for overcoming this difficulty. Portable storage cells for automobile use are available in almost every locality and may often be rented at small cost. A sufficient number of such cells may be temporarily installed, enough of them being placed in multiple to give the necessary output. By floating a temporary battery so formed across the charging mains and running the generators continuously, a temporary source of current supply may be had at small expense for running the exchange during the period required for alterations. Usually a time of low traffic is chosen for making the changes, such as from Sat.u.r.day evening to Monday morning. Very large central-office batteries, serving as many as 6,000 lines, have thus been taken out of service and replaced without interfering with the traffic and with the use of but a comparatively few portable cells. One precaution has to be observed in such work, and that is not to subject the portable cells to too great an overcharge, due to the great excess of generator over battery capacity.

This is easily avoided by watching the ammeters to see that the input is not in too great excess of the output, and if necessary, by frequently stopping the machines to avoid this.

=Power Switchboard.= The clearing-house of the telephone power plant is the power board. In most cases, it carries switches, meters, and protective devices.

_Switches._ The switches most essential are those for opening and closing the motor and the generator circuits of the charging sets and with these usually are a.s.sociated the starting rheostats of the motors and the field rheostats of the generators. The starting rheostats are adapted to allow resistance to be removed from the motor armature circuit, allowing the armature to gain speed and increase its counter-electromotive force without overheating. The accepted type has means for opening the driving circuit automatically in case its voltage should fall, thus preventing a temporary interruption of driving current from damaging the motor armature on its return to normal voltage.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 417. Power-Plant Circuits]

_Meters._ The meters usually are voltmeters and ammeters, the former being adapted to read the several voltages of direct currents in the power plant. An important one to be known is the voltage of the generator before beginning a battery charge, so that the generator may not be thrown on the storage battery while generating a voltage less than that of the battery. If this were done, the battery would discharge through the generator armature. The voltmeter enables the voltage of the charging generator to be kept above that of the battery, as the latter rises during charge. It enables the performance of several cells of the battery to be observed. A convenient way is to connect the terminals of the several cells to jacks on the power board and to terminate the voltmeter in a plug.

The ammeter, with suitable connections, enables the battery-charge rate to be kept normal and the battery discharge to be observed. In order to economize power, it is best to charge the battery during the hours of heavy load. The generator output then divides, the switchboard taking what the load requires, the battery receiving the remainder.

In systems requiring the terminal voltage of the equipment to be kept constant within close limits, either it is necessary to use two batteries--never drawing current from a battery during charge--or to provide means of compensating for the rise of voltage while the battery is under charge. The latter is the more modern method and is done either by using fewer cells when the voltage per cell is higher or by inserting counter-electromotive force cells in the discharge leads, opposing the discharge by more or fewer cells as the voltage of the battery is higher or lower. In either method, switches on the power board enable the insertion and removal of the necessary end cells or counter-electromotive force cells.

_Protective Devices._ The protective devices required on a power board are princ.i.p.ally _circuit-breakers_ and _fuses_. Circuit-breakers are adapted to open motor and generator circuits when their currents are too great, too small, or in the wrong direction. Fuses are adapted to open circuits when the currents in them are too great. The best type is that in which the operation of the fuses sounds or shows an alarm, or both.

=Power-Plant Circuits.= The circuit arrangement of central-office power plants is subject to wide variation according to conditions. The type of telephone switchboard equipment, whether magneto or common-battery, automatic or manual, will, of course, largely affect the circuit arrangement of the power plant. Fig. 417 shows a typical example of good practice in this respect for use with a common-battery manual switchboard equipment. Besides showing the switches for handling the various machines and the charge-and-discharge leads from the storage battery, this diagram shows how current from the storage battery is delivered to various parts of the central-office equipment.

[Footnote A: The instructions given later in this chapter are for batteries of this make, although they are applicable in many respects to all types commonly used in telephone work.]

CHAPTER x.x.xIII

HOUSING CENTRAL-OFFICE EQUIPMENT

=The Central-Office Building.= Proper arrangement of the central-office equipment depends largely upon the design of the central-office building. The problem involved should not be solved by the architect alone. The most careful co-operation between the engineer and the architect is necessary in order that the various parts of the telephonic equipment may be properly related, and that the wires connecting them with each other and with the outside lines be disposed of with due regard to safety, economy, and convenience. So many factors enter into the design of a central-office building that it is impossible to lay down more than the most general rules. The attainment of an ideal is often impossible, because of the fact that the building is usually in congested districts, and its very shape and size must be governed by the lot on which it is built, and by the immediate surroundings. Frequently, also, the building must be used for other purposes than those of a telephone office, so that the several purposes must be considered in its design. Again, old buildings, designed for other purposes, must sometimes be altered to meet the requirements of a telephone office, and this is perhaps the most difficult problem of all.

The exterior of the building is a matter that may be largely decided by the architect and owner after the general character of the building has been determined. One important feature, however, and one that has been overlooked in many cases that we know of, is to so arrange the building that switchboard sections and other bulky portions of the apparatus, which are necessarily a.s.sembled at the factory rather than on the site, may be brought into the building without tearing down the walls.

_Fire Hazard._ The apparatus to be housed in a central-office building often represents a cost running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars; but whether of large or small first cost, it is evident that its destruction might incur a very much greater loss than that represented by its replacement value. In guarding the central-office equipment against destruction by fire or other causes, the telephone company is concerned to a very much greater extent than the mere cost of the physical property; since it is guarding the thing which makes it possible to do business. While the cost of the central office and its contents may be small in comparison with the total investment in outside plant and other portions of the equipment, it is yet true that these larger portions of the investment become useless with the loss of the central office.

There is another consideration, and that is the moral obligation of the operating company to the public. A complete breakdown of telephone service for any considerable period of time in a large city is in the nature of a public calamity.

For these reasons the safeguarding of the central office against damage by fire and water should be in all cases a feature of fundamental importance, and should influence not only the character of the building itself, but in many cases the choice of its location.

_Size of Building._ It goes without saying that the building must be large enough to accommodate the switchboards and other apparatus that is required to be installed. The requirement does not end here, however.

Telephone exchange systems have, with few exceptions, grown very much faster than was expected when they were originally installed. Many buildings have had to be abandoned because outgrown. In planning the building, therefore, the engineer should always have in mind its ultimate requirements. It is not always necessary that the building shall be made large enough at the outset to take care of the ultimate requirements, but where this is not done, the way should be left clear for adding to it when necessity demands.