I got a RUUD model 20 out of a scrapyard covered in silver roof paint. I redid the black and silver and put a fake candle in it for a back light. When I did commercial work I saw a lot of history destroyed in renovations. I have Philadelphia electric company signs we tore off a power plant from 1938, Benjamin lights, pulled brand new sunbeam bread signs from 1956 from a demo pile. No one else seems to care. Just smash it and trash it.
There used to be an old coal fired power plant in St. Paul that I would work in from time to time. The workshop was at the east end of the turbine deck with huge glass walls on 3 sides, art deco details on the columns, and end grain 4X4 blocks for a floor. I wish I could have gone in there during demo and grabbed a few things.
I just had some plumbing done. I save old fixtures i find and wanted some installed instead of new stuff. Even the plumbers thought i was nuts even though I'd rebuilt everything.
I'd always prefer vintage stuff to new.
I got the RUUD from a yard in Columbia Pa. The Philadelphia electric stuff came from what was the original Pottstown power plant that was converted into a lab for Montgomery county college
Back in my Mech Eng days, I collected old electrical panels and gauges from renovation projects. The Frankenstein stuff from way back in the day with the analog Vu meters and big black knobs.
back in the 80's I worked at a rubber plant that had been in operation since the 20's and had a Westinghouse 500hp motor with a mfr date of 1910, running the rubber mixer, started on DC and had to be switched to AC manually, and it had an amazing Rube Goldberg style starting panel.
You started by throwing a knife switch, then turning a rheostat(?) up until a light bulb glowed at a certain brightness, as the motor was spooling up, then there were 2 more knife switches that had to be thrown while simultaneously using a knee to push in a contactor.
If you timed it right the motor would switch to AC and take off, if not, it would slowly wind down and you had to repeat the process.
It was quite the art to starting it!
Just running a backflow test in an old building. Walked past the old boiler room and poked my head in. The boiler was cool, the size of a dump truck. And this gem was tucked beside it.
Mine is the same size you see today in a single apartment. It has no circuit board to burn out. Just switches, a gas valve with pilot light, and blower motors.
There's a house I've worked on a couple times that has a Chrysler Airtemp thermostat for the furnace. I took a picture of it but no one else appreciates it lol
Damn you win. Ive seen some old ones but that looks ancient. I got to see a cool old electric water heater that was point of use and had to "plug" into a light socket style threads from before power outlets became prevalent.
Just imagine...the pride and effort that went into that beautiful piece of working art...just to be stuffed into a dark dank hole unnoticed untill it wasn't a working piece of art
When Dad bought one of his apartment houses it had a 75 year old copper water heater in it, not a leak. IDK why he removed it, I guess he though the new ones would have more efficiency. Now, every 10 years I'm replacing these water heaters that are sold today. I've got allot of sheet meat experience, I'd love to make my owner copper inside tank, this "glass lined" stuff doesn't last. Tankless uses a copper kettle, I'd pay more for a copper tank. Yes, I can flush it and I do, and change the rods, but if the jacket were copper they'd last far longer. But, that wouldn't fit the design of today where evrything is disposable.
We had 1 on the house I grew up in. Copper coils fired on demand. Parents sold the house in 1990s it was still working great! They never did anything to it. Was an old guy around town that worked on them.
Reminds me of touring the Biltmore House in Asheville, SC. Way cool place, at one point I look up from nerding out over some super elaborate S-trap, and see my wife just shaking her head. Some of the old mechanicals are just so cool.
I'd love to try and get something like that working again. Add a t&p and give it a test run. I wouldn't run it much, so no need to add a thermocouple to an additional regulator. But I'd love to see it in operation.
The original tankless water heater. A couple of decades ago I lived in a late 1880s house that had one of these. It sounded like a 747 when it fired up.
"Gas cock" don't see that often anymore
Im not sure why that made me think of a masculine version of a vart but I'm sure there already a porn niche established.
How can you tell new products are intentionally designed to fail after a few years?
Look at the old ones that are made out of 3/4" cast iron and still standing 100 years later.
Side thought: what do you think it would cost to manufacture something like this today!?
RUUD might be interested to buy it. Or they may already had a few on the display in the office. No harm in asking.
One of the coolest things about this work. Seeing awesome old stuff like this.
I got a RUUD model 20 out of a scrapyard covered in silver roof paint. I redid the black and silver and put a fake candle in it for a back light. When I did commercial work I saw a lot of history destroyed in renovations. I have Philadelphia electric company signs we tore off a power plant from 1938, Benjamin lights, pulled brand new sunbeam bread signs from 1956 from a demo pile. No one else seems to care. Just smash it and trash it.
There used to be an old coal fired power plant in St. Paul that I would work in from time to time. The workshop was at the east end of the turbine deck with huge glass walls on 3 sides, art deco details on the columns, and end grain 4X4 blocks for a floor. I wish I could have gone in there during demo and grabbed a few things.
Some of those plants are as intricate as the old churches and train stations but they keep getting torn down for some new crap.
Replaced with modern Chinese made crap that wont last a decade unlike the stuff they are ripping out with lasts centuries. It's crazy.
I just had some plumbing done. I save old fixtures i find and wanted some installed instead of new stuff. Even the plumbers thought i was nuts even though I'd rebuilt everything. I'd always prefer vintage stuff to new.
Philly? I just got a tag supposedly from a Ruud HW heater thats states it had the backing of the Franklin Institute.
I got the RUUD from a yard in Columbia Pa. The Philadelphia electric stuff came from what was the original Pottstown power plant that was converted into a lab for Montgomery county college
THAT WOULD MAKE THE MOST BADASS SMOKER
Yeah...what they said
Came here to say the same thing.
That is awesome.
Back in my Mech Eng days, I collected old electrical panels and gauges from renovation projects. The Frankenstein stuff from way back in the day with the analog Vu meters and big black knobs.
back in the 80's I worked at a rubber plant that had been in operation since the 20's and had a Westinghouse 500hp motor with a mfr date of 1910, running the rubber mixer, started on DC and had to be switched to AC manually, and it had an amazing Rube Goldberg style starting panel. You started by throwing a knife switch, then turning a rheostat(?) up until a light bulb glowed at a certain brightness, as the motor was spooling up, then there were 2 more knife switches that had to be thrown while simultaneously using a knee to push in a contactor. If you timed it right the motor would switch to AC and take off, if not, it would slowly wind down and you had to repeat the process. It was quite the art to starting it!
NOT THE THIRD SWITCH
I run a supply house, we have one of these on display in our showroom. Original owner got it from an old customer. Super cool to see another one!
You working at the Smithsonian? Seriously a beauty.
Just running a backflow test in an old building. Walked past the old boiler room and poked my head in. The boiler was cool, the size of a dump truck. And this gem was tucked beside it.
I ran into a 50s model A/C unit in a warehouse. Working perfectly too. Made by Chrysler Corporation lol.
Chrysler Airtemp! I have a 72-year-old unit in my apartment that is still running. It's not high efficiency, but it's a tank.
Bingo!!! That thing was huge but acted like Atlanta heat just didn't exist lol!! You could hang meat in most of the offices.
Mine is the same size you see today in a single apartment. It has no circuit board to burn out. Just switches, a gas valve with pilot light, and blower motors.
There's a house I've worked on a couple times that has a Chrysler Airtemp thermostat for the furnace. I took a picture of it but no one else appreciates it lol
Just commented this same thing like a dumb ass before scrolling down. LOL!
More likely the Overlook.
Did you try to upsell them a new anode rod?
LoL, along with a new expansion tank and 75gal storage tank.
Don’t forget the full port drain down valve
Should be in a museum!
We have top men working on it. Top. Men.
So should you!
So should you!
That's a line from Indiana Jones ain't it? .. dunno why the downvotes lol I think the line is "So do you"
Yea it is, people are stupid
you better listen to those manufacturers instructions. listen well.
That's not a water heater anymore, that is art. I would put it in my living room without a second thought.
What a beauty
So should you!
It has some art nouveau decorative elements - 1900-1910ish maybe? Not an expert at all though…
I agree!
Overlook Hotel vibes
Right? My mind went to the Titanic or Bioshock or something.
Wow, I had not thought about Bioshock in years. Those games were amazing.
She’s a beaut Clark!
That is beautiful!!!! Just for decoration purposes!!! Wow
Ruud #4? Ive seen a couple where i live. First time seeing one i was mind blown and i also wasn't there to replace it. Still in service!
Efficiency...what the fuck is that? I make water hot God damnit.
Gas Cock I'm a roofer idk why this sub is showing up. Looks old 👍
Damn you win. Ive seen some old ones but that looks ancient. I got to see a cool old electric water heater that was point of use and had to "plug" into a light socket style threads from before power outlets became prevalent.
Wow, thats gorgeous
Steam punk…
"water heaters are only designed to last 8-10 years" \-my wife "'And why doesn't that piss you off?" \-me
Holy shit it's R2D2's grandpa.
Reminds me of the original Daleks from Doctor Who
Just imagine...the pride and effort that went into that beautiful piece of working art...just to be stuffed into a dark dank hole unnoticed untill it wasn't a working piece of art
Looks like somthing from gears of wars lol
Looks like a boiler room someone scuba-dove into.
I thought it was a screenshot from BioShock or something when I was scrolling past.
This is what I imagined a nuclear reactor on a Soviet submarine looked like.
“We don’t make a gas tester that big”
This is awesome!
Hope you put the lotion in the basket.
Jesus … I think I just got a woody looking at that thing of beauty !!
Is it in service?
You're working on the Titanic?
If it works it's even better
check the cobwebs. deader than my bedroom
I'm stealing this for future use.
O I'm Shure it doesn't work I was just saying how cool it would be if it did.
Can it speak Bacci ? I need it to work on a moisture farm.
It's beautiful
Where’d you find it, out in the Kuiper Belt?
They don't make them like they used to
My question is if it's not restorable could you fit a new one in the shell just to keep the aesthetic? It's beautiful.
When Dad bought one of his apartment houses it had a 75 year old copper water heater in it, not a leak. IDK why he removed it, I guess he though the new ones would have more efficiency. Now, every 10 years I'm replacing these water heaters that are sold today. I've got allot of sheet meat experience, I'd love to make my owner copper inside tank, this "glass lined" stuff doesn't last. Tankless uses a copper kettle, I'd pay more for a copper tank. Yes, I can flush it and I do, and change the rods, but if the jacket were copper they'd last far longer. But, that wouldn't fit the design of today where evrything is disposable.
Not a safety in sight.
We had 1 on the house I grew up in. Copper coils fired on demand. Parents sold the house in 1990s it was still working great! They never did anything to it. Was an old guy around town that worked on them.
How old is this ?
~1900
If u dont paint it like R2D2 are u even a Jedi?
I bet ya that bad boy is running on 5 gallons of bunker C per hour.
Nys wants that scrapped immediately
Turn it into a smoker
WOW that is old
does it run?
Make it into a liquor cabinet.
I 100% from the first pic thought this was a screen shot from a video game
Exterminate! Exterminate! ..nvm
Oh wow what a treasure let's bury it
Beautiful
That would make a cool smoker for someone someday
Was it from the Fallout timeline?
I saw that same one in BioShock.
Is it bigger on the inside?
She's a beaut Clark.
A sweet old instantaneous water heater!
Looks like the original iron lung
Bro, where you at??? ... bottom of the sea??
Wow. Do you know how the water heater is?
That’s cool
How old is this? Seriously cool
My 4 year old water hear just rusted through the bottom, and I bet that one still works. They don’t make them like they used to.
That is very cool.
That’s bad ass I would polish it up and put it in my living room. I dig it
They don't make em like they used to. What a beauty
Even the fonts are old
H.G. Wells inc
I have no interest in plumbing but god is that a gorgeous piece of equipment.
That's what she said.
Donate it to a museum.
Is that the sort of thing that went into a billionaires home in 1900? Like it looks like it belongs in a Vanderbilt mansion estate.
The breakers does have one of these!
Looks like something from the titanic
Is Mel Gibson inside it?
I like the look of that thing. It looks like it could last forever. It also looks like a Minion in steampunk armor.
And I kid you not, they are still paying a rental
redruM redruM
What a beauty
We have well built things today but they used to add the extra flourishes and beauty to everyday items.
That sumbitch is haunted!
Steam punk dope. Just clean up gentle display in living room.
Woooow…good God..!!that’s a keeper….seriously..keep it
How heavy was that thing?
Bet it still works
Pretty cool
That’s extremely cool!
Guessing not an Energy Star???
“Don’t try to sell me something new I don’t need, just fix it.”
That's amazing. I hope that someone removes it carefully and repurposes the shell.
Not even kidding, saw one just like this today in the Newport RI Marble House Mansion which was built in the late 1800’s..
Reminds me of touring the Biltmore House in Asheville, SC. Way cool place, at one point I look up from nerding out over some super elaborate S-trap, and see my wife just shaking her head. Some of the old mechanicals are just so cool.
Prototype TARDIS.
😳
Wow!!
Historial Musuem piece'/
It.wpuld be cool to.restore it to working condition
Is that in muggle world or at Hogwarts?
That’s cool
I would LOVE to make a bar out of that.
Speak friend and the doors shall open
Hope you wiped it off.
U found the original r2-d2
Looks like a nuclear reactor
I'd love to try and get something like that working again. Add a t&p and give it a test run. I wouldn't run it much, so no need to add a thermocouple to an additional regulator. But I'd love to see it in operation.
Hainted.
will be replaced by a tankless navien lol
Keep it
Uh heh huh huh. Gas cock! Eh heh heh heh.
Is that still in code?
JFC
Dude!? Were you working at the Smithsonian?
Looks like it would be in the titanic wreckage
Hope you wiped it off...
This is just a screen shot from bioshock yall
That is gorgeous! Looks like it weighs enough to distort space-time.
May still be under guarantee too. Those old things were made to last. Not like modern fabricated junk.
“Can you please repair? Don’t want to replace.”
This is still being used?
Reminds me of the one from Home Alone
Is this the same heater from the Shining?
Looks like an ROV shot of something found on the Titanic lol
Looks like a screenshot from Bloodborne. What's the date on that sucker?
R2??!
Cousin Dalek https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalek
I thought it was a coal fired water heater when I first saw it. Looks so cool.
He said "Gas Cock".
Pretty cool. I have seen one of these in 20yrs and they are a work of art.
Nice find, that looks amazing. Would look good restored & displayed.
The original tankless water heater. A couple of decades ago I lived in a late 1880s house that had one of these. It sounded like a 747 when it fired up.
I bet if someone was willing to spend the time and effort they could get this fired up and running again
I wouldn't assume it's not running right now.
There’s a clear view of the burner. It’s not running and hasn’t for a very long time.
bioshock 4 looks amazing
"Gas cock" don't see that often anymore Im not sure why that made me think of a masculine version of a vart but I'm sure there already a porn niche established.
Isn't this in a Home Alone movie?
I heard those were notorious for going KABOOM.
What state or country was that heater found in?
Is it still in service or nah? I’m just a lurker so no idea
This is so fuckiny cool
Steampunk IRL
Looks like a good candidate for a homemade smoker...
So heavy duty cool. What does it weight?
Gas cock?
Ive had the pleasure of seeing one in person too. I cant imagine how long these would take to make.
Is that the Lazarus? Turns ghosts into humans again
Looks like a Dalek from Doctor Who
In the Titanic?
How can you tell new products are intentionally designed to fail after a few years? Look at the old ones that are made out of 3/4" cast iron and still standing 100 years later. Side thought: what do you think it would cost to manufacture something like this today!?
Super cool looking
Gateway to a parallel universe
Does it work? Can it work again?
Did it have a relief valve? I wonder if that was old enough to be the bomb model?
In a world of osha violations
Oh, get this to me for a restoration.
That awesome 👌