Supercon Socket Receptacles

[erosing]

So in the process of cleaning out an old venue a box of 50 Amp Supercon Socket receptacles was found. My guess is that it is something similar to an early Cam-lok like connector. I brought them to an older (late 30's) IA rigger to see if he could enlighten us as to exactly what they were, but he had no idea, never saw them before.

The box is stamped 1980. I looked online to see if I could find more about them but I haven't had much luck other than they are a connector.

So, anyone ever come across these and know why they would be in a theatre?

Here are some pictures of the devices.

Imageshack - img0016l

Imageshack - img0017v

Imageshack - img0019dk

Imageshack - img0020wy

 

[STEVETERRY]

So in the process of cleaning out an old venue a box of 50 Amp Supercon Socket receptacles was found. My guess is that it is something similar to an early Cam-lok like connector. I brought them to an older (late 30's) IA rigger to see if he could enlighten us as to exactly what they were, but he had no idea, never saw them before.

The box is stamped 1980. I looked online to see if I could find more about them but I haven't had much luck other than they are a connector.

So, anyone ever come across these and know why they would be in a theatre?

Here are some pictures of the devices.

Imageshack - img0016l

Imageshack - img0017v

Imageshack - img0019dk

Imageshack - img0020wy

Supercon single-pole connectors were made by Superior Electric, who also made the famous LuxTrol autotransformer dimmers. They were likely used in a load patch panel, although not one made by Century or Kliegl, since those manufacturers had their own connectors.

The photos show an odd configuration: a panel-mount male connector. Most patch panels had flying-lead male connectors with weighted-pulley retraction mechanisms. The panel that these connectors came from obviously had Supercon male-female patchcords, which were rare.



ST

 

[JD]

Looks like what was used on my carbon arc troupers. The predate to the Cam was the Tweko. (spell?) Although locking, it was not UL approved and was really designed for the welding industry. They fell out of favor in the 1970's when Cams really took over. Although they locked together, they could expose the user to conductor contact and had no voltage rating.

 

[ship]

That's no Tweko. Nope never seen them before. Fascinating.

 

[mstaylor]

I think John has a winner. Supers may not have been the only use but I believe he is correct.

 

[STEVETERRY]

I think John has a winner. Supers may not have been the only use but I believe he is correct.

Supercons are non-locking, so I think that eliminates the Trouper application.

ST

 

[derekleffew]

That to which JD is referring:
This picture shows the two single-pole plugs dangling, just behind the yoke.

They're very similar to the Supercon, but likely not interchangeable.

 

[erosing]

I can say for certain that is not what these were used for in the space they were found. The space had never ha spotlights until a few monthes ago

 

[Sony]

But did it ever have a hard patch panel? SteveTerry was saying that the Supercon sockets were most likely used for a patch panel of some sort.

 

[erosing]

I'm looking into that stil, all the install paperwork was saved thankfully. As far as I have read through the last time the power distro was updated was to a Sensor in the 90's. Before that there was an update when the grid was installed in the 1983 but I haven't been able to find yet as to if they installed a new distro at that point or not. The trouble is finding someone still alive that was there before the 1983 update, and finding any documentation from before then as well. But we're still coming through the joint.

 

[erosing]

Saw these, or very similar connectors on an old Hub dimmer system today, made me feel good that I could save the box of connectors, sadly the dimmers were aranged to go the way of the scrapyard.

 

[jjkool]

I have also seen similar connectors used in a hot patch panel for lighting dimmers