These are massive electrical switchgears and rotary converters. This building, a 1921 office building which has now been converted to condos, had these massive converters to run their eleven elevators. The elevators ran on direct current. This equipment took up a good chunk of the basement and are now decommissioned.
Not sure if theyre still there.
Rotary converters were used in the NYC subway as well since the third rail has DC. Theyre rarely used now-- very little else runs on DC and most stuff that does need DC utilizes solid state converters. takes up a lot less room.
Not sure if theyre still there.
Rotary converters were used in the NYC subway as well since the third rail has DC. Theyre rarely used now-- very little else runs on DC and most stuff that does need DC utilizes solid state converters. takes up a lot less room.
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