Estate finds... Repair advice needed.

[classiccaprice]

Hey fellas,

I picked up two really neat things at a local estate sale today.

First, an interesting old sink, that I could find no info on. I'm thinking it may have come off a ship. Anyone have any knowledge?

Second this really cool Early 50s? Westinghouse Buffet burners. Doesn't work. Both ceramic burners are broken. I only found one break in the wire on one, but didn't see an issue on the other. Either way I can't wait to figure it out and get it working. How can I fix the disks? Any idea where I could find the support for the burner? How do I rewire the burner? What type of wire do I get? Any suggestions? Thanks fellas.[this post was last edited: 12/6/2014-22:08]

 

[classiccaprice]

Pictures might help.

 

[danemodsandy]

Will:

I was unable to find anything like this on a cursory Google search, which means it might be a fairly uncommon survival.

Because of that, I think some photos might help.

*edit* Evidently, I was posting this as you were posting your photos. Sorry!

 

[classiccaprice]

Lol. I read your mind Sandy!

I think it might be late 40s, based off the knobs.

 

[artcurus]

Okay, if the ceramic disc are supported in an "X" fashion, (use a piece of steel pipe support tape strapping) on the underside of the disc. It *should* be okay, considering it has a steel cap on the top side already.

Now the heating element is a different story. They are two seperate coils connected to a common ground. First, you need to find out if the heating element actually has voltage going to it. It's a two stage switch, one click low, second click high, (there may be a medium but I can't tell from the picture)like a fan motor switch. On high, using a volt meter, you have 120 on both pins on the bottom of the ceramic disc with common ground, on low, you should have 120 between ONE pin and common ground.

Remove the broken element, preserving the length as much as you can, measure it, then go here (pay close attention to the OD)

http://www.duralite.com/store/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=108

or here

http://www.infraredheaters.com/metal.html

However, at this point, you need to talk to someone that has a firm understanding of electricity/electronics to make sure the load is correct, and the length of the coil is correct.

The second way to fix the broken element is a donor unit off of Epay.

http://www.duralite.com/store/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=108

 

[rp2813]

That sink triggers vague memories of lavatories on trains from when I was a kid. 

 

Both of my parents were Chicagoland natives and both of my grandfathers were railroad men.  We were traveling by train from the Bay Area to Chicago as late as 1967, by which time most people were taking planes, and particularly on the Overland route there was a lot of old rolling stock.

 

I remember on one trip aboard The City of San Francisco in 1965 we were assigned to a coach that clearly needed to be retired.  We rocked and rolled for 43 hours.  Only a few years ago did I discover that it was one of the original coaches from The Milwaukee Road's "Hiawatha" trains which were launched in the mid 1930s.

 

Once in Chicago, my mom went down to The Milwaukee Road ticket office and complained.  Like any of the railroads offering passenger service by then, they couldn't have cared less.

 

 

 

[classiccaprice]

Thanks!

Ralph, the only reason I thought ship is because this guy had a Nautical Theme throughout the house. However, I could see train. Great story!

Art, good advice. I'll have to work on it next weekend.