Teardown of General Electrics 3 Million Volt Lightning Laboratory

[Mads Barnkob]

Jeff Behary from the http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com/ is on a insane quest to teardown and save the old General Electric 3MV Test Laboratory, that features a 3 stage transformer stepup assembly into a huge Marx generator.

With Jeff's permission I am reposting selected pictures from his daily uploads as they make progress. Please consider helping Jeff by giving him a small donation (thread here: https://highvoltageforum.net/index.php?topic=2349.msg17196;topicseen#new ) to support opening a museum with this equipment in it!

Jeff's own words about this project:

As most of you know, I'm in the middle of a gigantic rescue mission saving General Electric's last standing high voltage research laboratory.  It was started in 1928 and was completed in 1949.  The apparatus inside weigh over 150,000 pounds and I am transporting it all to Florida to launch my museum into something official and of epic proportions.  I'm working with the best attorney in S FL to form the corporation and 501(c)3 nonprofit status, and have invested a lot of money upfront into this project personally to make it happen.  If anyone can spare a few dollars it would be greatly appreciated...
This history is priceless on many levels, and marked an epoch in high voltage engineering and testing... it was the foremost research bringing us an understanding of how to protect the entire electrical grid from lightning strikes, lightning interference, and safety - and was the leading catalyst of EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) research that was later used by our military. 
The scope of this equipment - which is still perfectly viable and able to be put into use again - ranges from material testing to defense work.  The library, which I rescued in hundreds of trash bags, contains thousands of books and research papers that were never formally published:  On many levels, this was history worth going out of my way to help save. 
Fortunately the owner of the land has generously agreed to donate it for a tax write-off for his company, but even accepting the items for free is an expense task with regard to the logistics of everything.  Just off-loading this gear takes a 20-ton crane rental...  For an idea of scope and size, I will post some additional photos in the comments. 
Thank you for your support.

Pictures from the first visit on January 14th 2023

[Mads Barnkob]

February 3rd 2023

Most of the building is gone but here is what is packed so far!  Time to fire up the crane and head to the HV lab! This section of building is missing most of the building... and wow. There must have been 100 rack cabinets filled with giant variacs. It was unreal...emphasis on the "was" part.

To understand WAS, check out the last picture of a metal pile

[Mads Barnkob]

Ca 250 pound spark gap adjustment with 2 belts over 80 ft long each...

[Mads Barnkob]

The motor generator is in the next room and outputs of xfmrs have heavy coupled windings on the HV leg to power the next... so toroid is half of 350kV and lower HV terminal is half of 350kV-2300V and the other half is grounded to each case, floating in 2 and 3...

they don't make resistors like they used to! Half inch bolts to wire these in place! 66" long mounted to 2" diameter bakelite tubes with 1/4" walls...

[Mads Barnkob]

Slowly dismantling a 4 pole 600A 3500V knife switch...!  2 million watts!














+

The moveable spark gap - 3/4" wall bakelite tubing on a bearing of glass marbles

[Mads Barnkob]

First two capacitor banks down... 400 pounds each without insulators

Note the capacitors can all be remotely shorted via the belt assembly that also adjusts the spark gaps! Very ingenious.

[Mads Barnkob]

February 4th 2023

Beginning of another day disassembling

[Mads Barnkob]

Finish disassembling impulse generator tomorrow, some more photos of the dark room, some fuse panels, and the modern 13200V-2300V 1000kVA dry type transformer used to power the cascade transformers post rotary generator days...

20 turns per layer 48 layers = 960 turns S:P ratio 5.5 so secondary must have 174.5 turns for the 2300V winding.

[Mads Barnkob]

Packing up the Easter eggs and one of many 13800V 1200A disconnects nearby....

[Mads Barnkob]

coupling capacitors and spark gap adjustment....

[Mads Barnkob]

Its DOWN!  Ca. 20,000 pounds!  Tomorrow we wrap up packing and disassemble the 1 meter sphere gap voltmeter...

[Mads Barnkob]

February 6th 2023

[MRMILSTAR]

Wow! So many goodies! I wonder if he has any plans to re-erect this monster? If so, where? It just makes me sick to see that pile of scrap. One wonders what good stuff is in that pile.

[Avenger]

Epic! Marx was carefully dismantled, the parts are in good condition. In Russia, a similar high voltage laboratory in Saint Petersburg was simply broken to hell.

[TizianoBll]

That's a lot of work!

Thanks for all the photos!

[rikkitikkitavi]

Oh.My.Gosh.
All those Variacs. Mr Variacs heart bleeds.
 I have to arrange Google Pay for donation.

[Mads Barnkob]

Epic! Marx was carefully dismantled, the parts are in good condition. In Russia, a similar high voltage laboratory in Saint Petersburg was simply broken to hell.

Was it this one? https://highvoltageforum.net/index.php?topic=555.0

[Avenger]

Was it this one? https://highvoltageforum.net/index.php?topic=555.0

Yes

[abstruse1]

A suggestion:  give memorabilia items for contributions in different amounts, e.g. some small nameplate for $50, insulator for $100, etc.

I would contribute!