WS19 vehicle cable reel

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by Russell Boaler

I haven't figured out how the wiring that would be wound on to the outside of the drum would be connected to the spring loaded terminals... seem a bit odd as there's no means of a positive mechanical connection (like a threaded terminal and a couple of nuts would offer). Any ideas on how the wires might be connected would be appreciated... a couple of small hose clamps maybe???

I reckon that's a hub and not the actual drum. My guess would be that there's a cable reel with a large central hole that fits over it, with a contact block that goes into the cutout on the hub and carries a pair of strips that make contact with the spring loaded contacts on the hub. This would allow the cable reel to be carried inboard for protection, and also quickly replaced if it was damaged - just pull the old reel off and slap a new one in place. It probably used something like jacketed twin cable since it wouldn't need to be as robust as D3 - something like the wire used on the early remote control units (Q10?) on their small reels, but obviously on its own special drum to fit this hub unit.

I've got both ends of the Junction Remote Control if anyone needs a photograph of those.

Chris. (Back again, but still very busy at work.)

[Russell Boaler]

That's a very interesting thought Chris and I think that you might well be on to something there.
I always wondered why the three longish studs were provided on the face of the unit and guessed that there were possibly some spring loaded twistable lugs or similar fitted over them... but then why would you bother. If you were going to wind cable directly onto this assembly then why wouldn't you just weld on an end plate to stop the wiring from falling off the end

Any "disposable" roll of wire would have to be fairly shallow as it would need to fit under the cable guide which hangs just a few inches clear of the current drum.

The spring loaded contacts, the lack of an end on one face of the drum and the three securing studs would certainly align with your suggestion. The challenge now is to find a picture or publication that confirms it. I've seen almost no pictures or reference to this type of drum anywhere... probably another overly complicated arrangement that didn't catch on.