Jack Bailey' s Delco Light

Jack Bailey' s Delco Light

I found this interesting article on the Delco Power Plant. I didn't know they existed but am not surprised. These must have been quite common twenty years before I was born.

Jack fixed up the light plant and made a display on a trailer. The display consisted of the 'Delco' light plant operating a 'Delco' radio, a 'Delco Light' utility motor pulling a 'Myers' pump actually pumping water, a 'Safety Car' fan from a railway passenger car, a 'Sunbeam' electric iron, and three light bulbs with three types of ceiling fixtures of the period. The latter was wired with the 'knob and tube' system of the heyday of the light plant. He also has some of the old glass jar batteries and a battery shipping box on display. The only thing new on his display were modern auto batteries used in lieu of the sixteen glass jar batteries of the original system.

Charles Kettering invented and developed the 'Delco Light Set' for farm and rural use. Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, or 'Delco,' brings to mind well-known names that are, or once were, tied to Delco and its founders, Charles Kettering and Col. Edward Deeds. These names are General Motors, Frigidaire and the De-Havilland DH-4 bomber of World War One. Kettering is credited with putting the first electric starter on the auto, thus making the auto a vehicle anyone could start and drive.

The tag on the Davis unit reads 'The Delco Light 2044xx Delco Light Co., Dayton, Ohio.' It is a model 850. The generator and engine are on the same shaft. The engine is air cooled, starts on gasoline and runs on kerosene and shuts off automatically when batteries are fully charged. It must be restarted manually, either by hand crank or by switching current from the batteries back through the generator where it will serve as a starter motor. The unit is fitted with a Weston ammeter. The output is listed at 22 amps at 38 volts. The fuel tank has a two gallon capacity and the unit will run 3? to 4? hours on just one gallon of fuel. The horse power is listed at 1? and operates at 1150 to 1250 rpm. This unit has a 2? inch bore with a five inch stroke. The working system is 32 volts and originally used 16 glass jar batteries at two volts each.