Im kinda new to the forum would like to know if anyone could help me identify the possible uses of this Gauge I picked up today.
While I was in an Antique shop (more like a junk shop) I picked up an interesting gauge. It reads 3in pressure Ga. The Meriam Instrument Company
Cleveland Ohio USA. It has a scale from 0-22 Ounces? of mercury next to a glass tube. I have a strange fascination with mercury and would definatley
like to be able to use this gauge in some way shape or form.bfesser - 5-3-2011 at 18:23
A picture would help greatly.hissingnoise - 6-3-2011 at 03:14
Yeah I didnt quite understand it either, I'm thinking its a vacuum gauge thoughIrC - 7-3-2011 at 23:12
It is a mercury or possibly also water gauge, would make sense why it says "when using Hg read ounces". Makes more sense as a pressure gauge for low
(below atmospheric) readings. Why is ounces hard to fathom if you are used to pounds? As in pounds per square inch. An ounce would be logically a
sixteenth of a pound per square inch. Hard to tell with such a small low resolution pic, would help if you would at least print here every word and
graduations on the thing. I am sure we could figure it out if we knew what was written on it and blowing up your pics is useless.
hissingnoise - 8-3-2011 at 09:32
Quote:
Why is ounces hard to fathom . . .
It's just hard to see what a snow leopard has to do with a mystery gauge?
Magpie - 8-3-2011 at 11:18
Is that glass tube vented to the atmosphere? If, so perhaps this is the other side of a U-tube that is connected to the brass tube with valve.
I would like to see the numerical markings on the scale. Is there a zero point in the middle of the scale?
[Edited on 8-3-2011 by Magpie]bwpatton1 - 8-3-2011 at 14:53
Shoot, both my cameras just died. The scale on the gauge reads from 0 at the bottom to 22 at the top. Other than that and the wording I described
originally there really isnt much else. There is the inlet with the valve in it on the top and a screw type thing right infront of that, this connects
directly to the glass tube with the mercury in it. Ive searched Meriam's website, but all their stuff is digital. I really want to find a way to use
this gauge in my lab as its cool looking and has an industrial theme to It I would like to try to incorporate into my lab.
Oh, I forgot to ask last post. How do yall resize your images to fit 800x3000?
smaerd - 8-3-2011 at 15:24
Incorporate something into your lab based solely on looks?
On the gauge it says "pressure", so thats cool. What kind of pressure well if someone knows on this forum it isn't me.
Maybe the mercury inside of the gauge would be more useful the the gauge itself for say an element collection. Really depends on how much you spent on
it.Magpie - 8-3-2011 at 15:27
Well, it clearly says it is a pressure gage. But "ounces of mercury" is a strange unit and I've never seen it before.
Perhaps the bottom serves as a storage pool for the mercury. Can you fill it with water through the brass tube? Or, can you blow air through the
brass tube and out the glass tube?
[Edited on 8-3-2011 by Magpie]bwpatton1 - 8-3-2011 at 17:20
Well, it clearly says it is a pressure gage. But "ounces of mercury" is a strange unit and I've never seen it before.
Perhaps the bottom serves as a storage pool for the mercury. Can you fill it with water through the brass tube? Or, can you blow air through the
brass tube and out the glass tube?
[Edited on 8-3-2011 by Magpie]
Wow, I feel really stupid now. I never thought to apply pressure to the thing to see what would happen.... anyways, I did and the mercury level rose
significantly. I haven't tried any type of fluid yet.Magpie - 8-3-2011 at 19:44
I never thought to apply pressure to the thing to see what would happen.... anyways, I did and the mercury level rose significantly. I haven't tried
any type of fluid yet.
You are making progress. It seems it is a pressure gage with a mercury pool in the bottom then. I wouldn't put any fluid in it but air or a gas that
doesn't react with mercury. Otherwise the mercury may become contaminated. (I was surprised it still contained mercury.)
If you can measure the length between the gradations on the scale you can make a cheat sheet that would convert these spacings to something more
useful like mmHg or inches of Hg.
When it is stood up vertically does the mercury rise to the zero mark? If not you may have to add some Hg to make the gage useful.
[Edited on 9-3-2011 by Magpie]
Is the scale (from 0 to 22 oz.) 3" in length? If so, here's an interesting calculation that may apply:
3"Hg = 0.10 atm = 1.47psi = 23.5 oz/in^2
23.5 is numerically close to the range on the scale. So as IrC indicated, the unit "ounces" may indeed be slang for ounces/in^2.
[Edited on 9-3-2011 by Magpie]
[Edited on 9-3-2011 by Magpie]hissingnoise - 9-3-2011 at 05:05
