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What the heck is this?

Bill Tippy

Platinum Level Sponsor
This may, or may not, be Alpine related.
I suppose it depends on what it is.
I picked up a couple of boxes of tools, cheap, at a garage sale years ago. It included a timing light, compression and vacuum testers, and misc other stuff. But this thing has me confused.
It may just be part of something else I didn't get.
 

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spmdr

Diamond Level Sponsor
My guess is:

Parts used to insert in an electrical circuit to measure current.

I would think there would be a meter that goes with those parts.
 

Bill Tippy

Platinum Level Sponsor
Thanks. There are a couple other things in the boxes that don't have anything to go with. For example, a cable with the induction clip for timing. It's got a connector on the end that doesn't go to anything I have. I may list some of these things for free and see if anybody wants them before I throw them out.
 

phyrman

SAOCA Secretary
Diamond Level Sponsor
It looks like a bus bar that will allow a certain amount of current to pass so you can attach an amp meter that is rated lower..... kinda like tuning
 

Tom H

Platinum Level Sponsor
This is a current measuring "shunt", for measuring very high currents like the starter current or the output of the alternator. Most likely it is designed to work with just about any standard voltmeter. This device gets installed in the circuit path, either permanently of just temporarily. Note the buss bar that can be swiveled in or out and secured in position. When installed in the IN position, the path is virtually a direct path, no resistor in the path, That allows normal operating situation. But if you want to measure the current, you swivel the buss bar out and that puts the resistor, with the wavy cooling fins, in the current path. Then you measure the voltage across the resistor with a voltmeter/ multimeter. The alligator clips should clamp onto the barrel ends of the resistor, and the other ends of the leads go to a voltmeter. The resistor is surely a very low resistance, like maybe 0.01 Ohms. If, for example, it IS 0.01 Ohms, then 20 Amps flowing through it would measure as 0.2 Volts ( Volts = Amps X Ohms). Note that this low resistance allows the measurement to be made while only subtracting 0.2 V from the supply being delivered to the load. The neat thing about this device is that it allows the user to quickly and easily switch from measuring to not measuring and back, simply by swiveling the buss bar in and out. Otherwise you would need to undo the wiring to insert an ammeter and the again undo and redo the wiring to remove the ammeter. External shunts, such as these are very common for measuring high currents, but I have never seen one with this swiveling buss bar.

I am guessing that the resistor value is in the tiny stamping on one end of the resistor. Can you read it?

Tom
 

Bill Tippy

Platinum Level Sponsor
Thanks Tom. That's quite a detailed answer.

I looked over every centimeter of the device, but there are no markings anywhere. No name, make, model, values, nothing.
 
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