[Milsurplus] Copper Oxide rectifiers

[COURYHOUSE at aol.com]

lets try one in a  crystal set as a detector!
 
Ed#
 
 
In a message dated 8/21/2013 12:50:47 P.M. Mountain Standard Time,  
hwhall at compuserve.com writes:

Thanks  for the notes, John. Good info. Between what you sent and 
experience info from  Bruce, KA2IVY, I think we will give these things a chance to 
stay in circuit.  I'll remove them and test them when I get into their part of 
the works, just  to be sure, before we apply power to the system.

Thanks to  all!

Wayne
WB4OGM


-----Original Message-----
From:  John Hensley <w5jv at hotmail.com>
To: hwhall  <hwhall at compuserve.com>; MilSurplus QSLNet  
<milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tue, Aug 20, 2013 7:23  pm
Subject: Copper Oxide rectifiers

Copper Oxide rectifiers were used by many companies for a time. ?Western  
Electric made teletype loop supplies using them and Lionel made their train  
operating transformers using them. ?Here is some information that I have  
collected:


This is a robust rectifier design offering full recovery  when allowed to 
cool after overload. ?From the General Electric Company  Electronics 
Department, booklet #175-3012A THE ABCs of RADIO  (copyright-1943):


"The copper oxide rectifier is made in the form  of a copper disk, coated 
on one side by a layer of copper oxide. The copper  oxide is plated with 
nickel to allow good external circuit contact. The  juncture of the oxide and 
copper offers a low resistance to the flow of  current from the oxide to the 
copper, but a high resistance to the flow of  current in the reverse 
direction. The detailed operation of this device is  complex, but in general it 
involves the formation of thin films at the  junction of the oxide and copper in 
which the molecules are so polarized that  the transfer of electrons in one 
direction requires much less work than a  similar transfer in the opposite 
direction.


Copper oxide rectifiers  possess a definite breakdown voltage and breakdown 
temperature. If either  critical value is exceeded, the rectifier will pass 
current freely in both  directions. After the unit is cooled or the high 
voltage removed, it will  immediately function again as though it had not been 
overloaded."  ?<-->
?
Hope this gets you started,


John  W5JV








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