Weston model 633 A-1 ammeter made in 1940s?

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RobertKLR

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I came across a Weston model 633 A-1 ammeter. My first impression was that it was probably from the 1960s but on a vintage electronics site someone said they came with generator kits in WW2. I did a little more research and found they were made in the 1940s.

Here's a link to a page from Electronics, Dec. 1942.
http://www.americanradiohistory.com...2-OCR-Page-0024.pdf#search="weston model 633"

Could this meter be that old? Or did it have a long run and survive on into the 60s. Most of the "experts" claimed it was 60s vintage but were completely surprised by the 1940s magazine piece.

The meter is a Weston model 633 A-1, (serial number may be 20600). It is great condition and works fine and even has the leather case but is dry rotted a little bit. It was found in the Thomas Creek VA hospital in Amarillo, Texas which was built in 1938. In one of the buildings there is a De Walt radial arm saw that records show was purchased in 1940 and is still in useable condition with the original motor still in place. The meter is made of plastic and I thought that would mean it was made in the 60s but now I've found that Weston used plastic in WW2.

The meter may be a significant piece of this hospital's history and since they have a small museum this may be a fitting piece to display. I have photos but this is a gubbermint computer and I can't post any pictures but I can when I get home.

Anyone familiar with the line and how to track down more information.
 
Of course it was available in the 40s. Weston was one of the earliest electrical industry pioneers, a contemporary of Michael Faraday in fact. He did a lot of different things in the early days of electricity, including carbon lamp filaments before Edison (who, contrary to popular belief that he "invented" electric lamps, just made them more practical and able to be mass produced cheaply). Weston got into making instruments in the late 1800s, in fact he died before WWII, so for sure his company was making meters like that long before the 60s. For an interesting read, do a search on Edward Weston. He was a fairly prominent figure in his day, but like many others of that era, kind of faded into obscurity under the glow of people like Edison who were better at self promotion.

What happens a lot is that people may have first ENCOUNTERED a Weston meter in the 60s when they were pups just starting out, so the hubris of youth leads them to believe that nothing existed prior to their awareness... The field of "experts" to consult by asking likely no longer includes many representatives from the WWII era now, certainly not pre-war.
 
Jraef said:
Of course it was available in the 40s. Weston was one of the earliest electrical industry pioneers, a contemporary of Michael Faraday in fact. He did a lot of different things in the early days of electricity, including carbon lamp filaments before Edison (who, contrary to popular belief that he "invented" electric lamps, just made them more practical and able to be mass produced cheaply). Weston got into making instruments in the late 1800s, in fact he died before WWII, so for sure his company was making meters like that long before the 60s. For an interesting read, do a search on Edward Weston. He was a fairly prominent figure in his day, but like many others of that era, kind of faded into obscurity under the glow of people like Edison who were better at self promotion.

What happens a lot is that people may have first ENCOUNTERED a Weston meter in the 60s when they were pups just starting out, so the hubris of youth leads them to believe that nothing existed prior to their awareness... The field of "experts" to consult by asking likely no longer includes many representatives from the WWII era now, certainly not pre-war.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. I didn't know about Weston's history but I'll read up on him. I've since found another reference to it in an even earlier issues of Electronics magazine from Sept of '41. Since it seems it was already an established design at that time it could be even older. I still haven't found anything about the timeline or serialization of the meters but I'm going to keep digging.

http://www.americanradiohistory.com...9-OCR-Page-0071.pdf#search="weston model 633"
 
160816-1152 EDT

For some history on the galvanometer and the Weston meter see the history section, half way down or so, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanometer
also https://books.google.com/books?id=u...E#v=onepage&q=weston d'arsonval meter&f=false

Note the dates, early to late 1880s, compared to late 1870s. When Edison developed his electrical power system, that included development of an efficient generator and moderately long life light bulb, 1878-1879, there were no easy to use meters. The d'Arsonval meter appeared around 1882, and the Weston in the late 1880s. Edison only had available an earth magnetic field type of galvanometer. These were primarily used in null balance measurements.

Weston was probably the primary quality instrument manufacturer into the late 1940s. After WWII Simpson and Tripplett became the dominate multimeter manufacturers. Weston sort of faded away toward the mid 1960s.

http://weston.ftldesign.com/

http://www.westonmeter.org.uk/thecompany.htm doesn't provide a clear history of the decline of Weston. My feeling is that Weston became less significant as many different manufacturers got into the instrument business following WWII. HP or whatever there latest name, Keysight, is still strong.

http://www.electronicproducts.com/T...The_Weston_Electrical_Instrument_Company.aspx

This https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015002918400;view=1up;seq=54;size=150 may be of interest, but I can not read it on the computer I am presently using.

The early history of electricity is interesting, and it is intriguing to think of yourself back in those days without all the knowledge and equipment we have today.

.
 
Also interesting to me; the fact that an obscure book from 1938, donated to a university likely somewhere around that time, is now instantly available to us all in a matter of seconds...
 
In 1980 I started working for a REA Co-op. The 633 A-1 was the only meter we owned for line crews and every truck had one. We had hot sticks that fit that meter and that is how we checked primary amps on MV off the pole. I think I still have one or two around here but today there are easier ways to do all those jobs. There certainly weren't any phantom voltage issues. Imagine what the next thirty years will bring. I was surprised to see six meters for sale on eBay.
 
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