Found an old relay in a 1960s Otis that still had the original paint

I was swapping out a door control board in a building downtown last Tuesday and pulled the cover off an old relay cabinet. The whole thing was caked in dust but the paint was still mint, like it hadn't been touched since the 60s. Anyone else run into old parts that are somehow still cleaner than the stuff we install today?

2 comments

2 Comments

xena37327d ago

The serial number stamp on that relay was probably still legible too. Meanwhile I've got new contactors that arrive with the terminal screws stripped from the factory. Funny how something that sat in a hot elevator shaft for 50 years holds up better than parts that came off a boat last month.

elizabethtaylor27d ago

Did you ever try hitting the screw holes with a tap before running the screws in? That saved me a ton of headaches on some contactors I got last year. Honestly, the threads were so bad I couldn't even get the screws started without cross threading everything. Tbh I think a lot of these factories just skip quality control to keep costs down. Ngl it's frustrating when you know a part from 50 years ago is gonna outlast something built last week. I've gotten in the habit of running a tap through every new terminal block I install now, just saves me the hassle.