ArresterWorks Virtual Arrester Museum
Horned Gap Arrester
Circa 1930
This Horned Gap Arrester represents the technology from
the early years of surge protection of power systems.
The exact year and manufacturer of this arrester is unknown
however it is similar to the design below that comes out of
a 1930 patent 1,755,324 by Ernest Jacobs of the Electric
Engineering Equipment Company of Chicago Ill.
This actual arrester is part of the Cooper Power Systems
Old Arrester Collection in Olean NY.
Anyone with more information about an arrester like this is asked to contact Jonathan Woodworth
at ArresterWorks
Pellet Type Arresters
650V Pellet Type Arrester
A GE Product Circa 1930
Pellet Type Oxide Film Arrester
Competing head to head with the first expulsion arrester was the new Pellet Type
Oxide Film Arrester. This new design was a product of arrester titan, GE. From
the patents and other literature, it is clear that GE had numerous engineers designing
arresters in this era. This new pellet type arrester had the excellent voltage
current characteristics of the Aluminum Cell arrester, but without a
liquid dielectric.
Patent 1,159,205
was granted to CF Frank for this design in 1915. In 1921 NA Lougee, also of GE applied for an improved
version of this arrester using peroxide lead pellets that was granted in 1929
(1,723,872). This design had an
additional advantage of lower cost and was better suited for line protection.
However, there were still lingering issues with this type of arrester.
It appeared to have a limited lifetime due to damage to the oxide film during
each surge. This damage was not repairable as in the liquid oxide film arrester.
Clearly more work was needed in the industry.
In the late 1930's the Silicon Carbide Type Arrester Technology obsoleted the lead oxide technology, but the use of
pellets continued on.
Fig: 1 1915 CF Frank Patent
Fig 2 1929 Norman Lougee Patent that resembles
the exhibited Pellet Type Arrester
The pellet arrester collection is from the ArresterWorks Arrester Collection