MESCO 1011 Electric engine


Mesco No. 1011 Electric Engine

Mesco No. 1011 Electric Engine Box

Background

Manhattan Electric Supply Company (MESCO) made three versions of their patent Electric Engine. The 1011 with a 3½" flywheel, the 1012 with a 2 5/8" flywheel and the 1013 with a 2" flywheel. This is the largest version. Charles E. Avery was granted patnet 958354 on May 17, 1910 and it was assigned to Manhatten Electric Supply Co.

New In Box doesn't seem correct but this electric engine comes very close. Excellent condition, instruction sheet included. Powered up and ran right out of the box, although I did apply a tiny amount of oil.

Operation

Instructions call for one or more No. 6 Dry Cells connected in series. I tried using an Agilent E3617A bench power supply rated at 0 - 60 Volts, 0 - 1 Amp, but it was too weak. A single No. 6 Dry Cell turns over the engine and two of them make it run well. The instruction sheet shows three cells which would really put out some power.

The crank has two throws, one for the connecting rod and one that acts as part of the switch and they are 90 degrees apart. If by chance the contact throw is pointing up or down working the control lever will do noghting and you need to spin the wheel by hand to get it going. This is the same for a single cylinder steam engine.

But if the contact throw is close to either the forward or reverse contact then moving the lever so contact is made will start the engine without the need for manual starting. This is similar to the "Starting from the Switch" procedure on cars that had manual ignition advance retard controls, like Rolls Royce cars from the 1920s or 1930s.
The lever not only allow for stopping, forward or reverse selection but also acts as a variable speed control.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/Uo1R5HZI8MI

Patents

746278 Electric Toy Motor, W. Broad, Dec 8, 1903, 310/21 310/32 -
958354 Electric Motor, C. E. Avery, May 17, 1910, 310/21 310/33 -
1678397 Toy electric engine, Koenig Joseph, Metal Ware Corp, July 24, 1928, 446/397 310/21 446/484 -
1721447 Toy engine, Thomas S Haney, July 16, 1929, 446/484 310/23
1737051 Toy electric engine, Koenig Joseph, Metal Ware Corp, Nov 26, 1929, 310/21 446/484 310/32 - runs from AC mains using transformer
1760498 Toy electric motor, Charles T Hoffman, May 27, 1930, 446/397 310/21 446/484 - sounds like gas engine

Build it YOURSELF!, a REAL ELECTRIC MOTOR - Kit to make a 2 pole D.C. motor
Electro-Magnetic Toy Engine - sounds like a gas or steam engine
Flashlights Patents
Gilbert DC 3-pole Electro-magnetic Machine - Gilbert? small motor + others
Leclanché Battery - wet cell
No. 6 Dry Cell
Telegraph
Telephone - phone patents
Weeden DC 2-pole Electro-magnetic Machine -
Western Union clocks use electromagnetic motor to self wind (page1 page 2)

Links

Reverse Time Page - MESCO Toy Electric Motors - Ever Ready/Gilbert Electrically Illuminated Clock - see my Ever Ready Shadow Clock

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