This section is from the "Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas Recipes Processes" encyclopedia, by Norman W. Henley and others.
These alloys are employed in electric installations as current interrupters. Serving as conductors on a short length of circuit, they melt as soon as the current becomes too strong. Following is the composition of some of these alloys.
Fusing temperature | Tin | Bismuth | Cadmium | ||
I... | 203° F. | 250 | 500 | 500 | |
II... | 193° F. | 397 | 532 | 71 | |
III... | 168° F. | 344 | 94 | 500 | 62 |
IV... | 153° F. | 260 | 148 | 522 | 70 |
V... | 150° F. | 249 | 142 | 501 | 108 |
VI... | 145° F. | 267 | 136 | 500 | 100 |
These alloys are prepared by melting the lead in a stearine bath and adding successively, and during the cooling, first, the cadmium; second, the bismuth; third, the tin. It is absolutely necessary to proceed in this manner, since these metals fuse at temperatures ranging from 850° F. (for lead), to 551° F. (for tin).
Bismuth I..... 8 | Lead 5 | Zinc 3 | Point pressure |
212° F. 1 | |||
II..... 8 | 8 | 4 | 235° F. 1.5 |
III..... 8 | 8 | 3 | 253° F. 2 |
IV..... 8 | 10 | 8 | 266° F. 2.5 |
V..... 8 | 12 | 8 | 270° F. 3 |
VI..... 8 | 16 | 14 | 280° F. 3.5 |
VII..... 8 | 16 | 12 | 285° F. 4 |
VIII..... 8 | 22 | 24 | 309° F. 5 |
IX..... 8 | 32 | 36 | 320° F. 6 |
X..... 8 | 32 | 28 | 330° F. 7 |
XI 8 | 30 | 24 | 340° F. 8 |
 
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