E.C.C. Products from the 1950's and 1960's

This section contains details of some of the company's later products and notable installations. The E.C.C. installed purpose built equipment for all kinds of industrial uses, much of which is probably still in use today. The curators recently visited a Wolverhampton nail manufacturer and noted that the whole factory was driven from E.C.C. motors. We were told that one of the motors, which must be about 50 years old, and is in daily use, was actually cleaned and oiled about 15 years ago, and hasn't been touched since. This shows how well-made and reliable, the company's products are.

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The first transatlantic telephone cable  between Clarenville, Newfoundland and Oban was inaugurated on 25 September 1956. It was designed to link both the United States and Canada to the U.K., with facilities for links to other European countries. It provided 30 telephone circuits to America and 6 to Canada, as well as a number of telegraph circuits to Canada.  E.C.C. designed and manufactured the power equipment for the Oban terminal station, as is mentioned in the advert on the right.

The finishing mill with 750h.p. E.C.C. drive motors.

When Bayliss, Jones & Bayliss Ltd., of Cable Street, Wolverhampton, opened a new rolling mill, it was driven by E.C.C. motors. More than two hundred motors were used in the system, the main mill drives producing 3,150 hp. and 4,000 hp. The other four main motors were housed in the motor room along with the rectifier and switchboard. These provide the supply to the five variable speed, 460 volt D.C. motors.

The supply equipment consisted of four 580/832 KVA rectifier transformers, feeding four mercury arc rectifiers, each with an output of 500 kW, at 1135 amps. The E.C.C. Service Department and the Electrical and Maintenance Department of Bayliss, Jones & Bayliss, installed the equipment without substantially effecting production. This was one of the most modern rolling mills in the Midlands and specialised in the rolling of alloy steels and carbon steels.

The motor room.

The four mercury arc rectifiers.

The D.C. Switchboard.

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The Fisheries research vessell "Arni Fridriksson" was built for the Icelandic Government, and launched on 1st March 1967. The ship's electrical system was designed and built by the E.C.C. It supplied 440 volts, 3 phase at 50 Hz.

The main generator.

The auxiliary generator.

The main control switchboard.

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A view of the engine room showing the two main generators.

On Friday 9th July 1965 the 2.5 million pound telephone trunk centre at Woodcroft, Edinburgh, was formally opened by the Director General of the Post Office. The standby and continuity power equipment was designed and built by E.C.C. It consisted of two 300 KVA, 415 volt A.C. generators. They were of the self-aligning bearing type with overhung exciters. The output voltage was automatically regulated to within plus or minus 1.5%. Each generator was driven by a Lister/Blackstone diesel engine at 750 r.p.m.

The company also supplied a 35 KVA 415 volt, 3 phase generator, for the uninterrupted supply for essential services. On mains failure, a battery automatically provides power for a D.C. motor, which drives the generator until the main diesel engines and generators are up and running.   The 35 KVA generator.

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In 1965 a Univac 490 computer system was installed at the British European Airways West London Air Terminal. The E.C.C. provided the continuity power equipment and associated control gear.

It consisted of two motor-generator sets, each of which provided 208 volts, 3-phase, at 60 Hz. Each unit consisted of a 350b.h.p., 400 volt steel yoke D.C. motor which was coupled to a 300 KVA, 240 kW A.C. generator. The output voltage was automatically controlled to within plus or minus 1% and separate control panels were provided for each generator. Solenoid operated, air-break circuit-breakers were included in the output circuitry.

One of the motor-generator sets.

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The E.C.C. generator, exciter and control switchboard.

English Clays, Lovering, Pochin & Co. Ltd. commissioned an unmanned, remotely controlled 5 Megawatt Turbo-Generator, to supplement its existing electricity supply. The E.C.C. provided the turbo-generator and the associated control gear. The generating station was located at Bugle in Cornwall and produced electricity during peak periods and at times of power failure.

The generator was powered by a land version of the Proteus Turbo-prop aero engine that was built by Bristol-Siddeley. The engine ran on class 'A' diesel fuel and full electrical power was available within five minutes, after the engine started. The station produced 11,000 volts and storage was provided for 24,000 gallons of diesel fuel, which was enough to run the generator for 80 hours at maximum power.

The control desk.

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One of the 2,000 hp. diesel hydraulic locomotives.

In 1958 the E.C.C. produced a number of Dynostarters, which were used to start up locomotive  diesel engines. They were used in Type 4, 2,000 hp. diesel hydraulic locomotives that were built by the North British Locomotive Company Limited, at Glasgow. The locomotives were 65ft. long and weighed 116 tons. They had a maximum tractive effort of 50,000 lbs.

An E.C.C. Dynostarter.

In the 1960's the company started to produce synchronous reluctance motors. These were much smaller and cheaper to build than traditional A.C. motors. They were simple to start, requiring no starting gear. Direct on-line starting or star-delta starting was used. The photograph shows a C350 reluctance motor driving a BRF 250 brushless generator.

Comparing one of the new synchronous reluctance motors, on the left, with the traditional type of A.C. motor on the right. Both motors deliver the same output power.

E.C.C.'s exhibit at the 1968 Electrical Engineers Exhibition.

BRF generators were designed for use as standby power A.C. supplies. They were brushless, A.C. generators with a built-in static voltage regulator that was designed by the Static Plant Division. The output voltage was regulated to within 2.5% of its rating and the generator was only about three quarters of the size of a traditional unit.     A BRF generator.

Control valves and pumping equipment that is driven by E.C.C. 1,500 r.p.m. and 3,000 r.p.m. squirrel cage motors.  This is part of an installation at the Hereford forging works of Henry Wiggin. The equipment was installed early in 1963.

The following is a list of some of the company's other products. This demonstrates the wide range of items that were produced by the company. The E.C.C. had a reputation of being able to design and manufacture almost any piece of electrical equipment.