Technically those handheld units are Oudin coils. They work because gas leaking into a vacuum will ionize and glow when exposed to the RF field produced by such a coil. As the pressure drops, so does the voltage required to ionize the gas, until the pressure is low enough that there is too little gas left to ionize.
It's similar to how a neon or fluorescent tube works. If you filled a tube with neon near atmospheric pressure it would take an extremely high voltage to light it, but pump it down to a vacuum and then let a small amount of neon or argon back in and it will glow brightly at a relatively low voltage.
Actually you are talking about consumer products (and the old Westinghouse did make some good ones-maybe before your time) but Westinghouse was quite active and made good stuff for the utility industry- as well as providing students with free copies of the "Westinghouse Transmission and Distribution Book" which was a very useful and practical reference.
One thing that made me scratch my head was their putting HV air breakers into "oil breaker" tanks -more to do with image than need or practicality.
I serviced Westinhouse transformers built in 1955-8 era right up until retirement two years ago. meanwhile many other brands (Pauwell = Federal Pioneer) have been replaced two and three times since 1970s (new). Westinghouse made very reliable, overbuilt transformers that are still in service from the 50s.
You weren't refering to the OJCB (sp?) oil filled Westinhouse outdoor breakers, were you? I rebuilt about 30 of these units in the late 70s.
Actually you are talking about consumer products (and the old Westinghouse did make some good ones-maybe before your time) but Westinghouse was quite active and made good stuff for the utility industry- as well as providing students with free copies of the "Westinghouse Transmission and Distribution Book" which was a very useful and practical reference.
One thing that made me scratch my head was their putting HV air breakers into "oil breaker" tanks -more to do with image than need or practicality.
I had a new Westinghouse 900 W microwave oven sitting here, still in the sealed carton. I unpacked it and plugged it in. I had only used it a couple times when it tripped a 20 A breaker, and the power cord was too hot to handle. The Westinghouse of years long gone is gone, for good. :(
A microwave that dies before the first splatter is crap, no matter who made it.
Not to mention about half the nuclear power plants in the country are Westinghouse design, and many of the nuclear submarines from the sixties and seventies were powered by S5W plant (the 'W' stands for Westinghouse).
From my student days, I remember visiting some thermal power plants. IIRC they typically had a mixture of GE and Westinghouse equipment. I think it was as much because of a desire to keep two suppliers in business as for any other reason.
I bet that most "scientists & engineers" know about the Tesla coil.
Most present day EEs were educated after the AC technology that Tesla created from scratch was quite mature technology and little new "science" was needed.
The generation of teachers educated in the 30's were more interested in an historical approcah and passed that on to their students. But that's no more.
my main experience with Westinghouse products was in the 75MW +range. I also had one of the old Westinghouse front load washing machines (50's-60's era) which was very good and ahead of its time.
So- my experience differs from yours- fair enough!
No, these were Westinghouse's first attempts at air blast HV breakers in response to the influx of European breakers (Asea, Brown Boveri, etc) which were lighter, cheaper than any of the North American Oil breakers as well as being modular. The last generation of Westinghouse HV oil breakers was good but was no longer competitive. The Westinghouse tank contributed nothing but bulk. GE caught on a bit faster. There were some interesting "fights" in AIEE transactions (later IEEE PAS)
They had some good ideas. They "pioneered" the consumer version of the front loading washing machines, for example. But their consumer stuff (then made in the USA) had quality control problems back in the 60s. I briefly worked for them then and they sold at a discount some of their consumer stuff to the employees. Even with the discount the employees soon learned to buy any other brand.
By the 70s much of the consumer stuff was spun off. I had a front loading washer/dryer combo (stacked) that came with my condo I bought in 1977. It was the "White-Westinghouse" brand. The washer lasted about 17 years with only minor repairs but then was "condemned" by the repairman.
Again, in the 60s they got into trouble in the electrical "switchgear" business. Rather than compete honestly, their executives engaged in price fixing with the competition. C. 1966/67 a handful of Westinghouse executives went to jail for 30 days. It was a relative slap on the wrist but usually such cases were settled by a fine.
They still made money with their nuke plants and tended to provide "turnkey" nuke power plants. But the events at 4 mile island destroyed that business.
I think the Westinghouse name on "consumer" products is the same as the "General Electric" name. It has NOTHING to do with the original company. That the folks who "own" these names don't bother with decent qualify tells you how much they value the name.
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