Anyone use one of these?

[Bod]

A Tragonic controller.

My latest late father-in-Law find.
There is no indication of age, except its, 3 square pin plug and socket.
It appears to be a variable resistor for single phase mains electricity. The instruction leaflet is in 6 european languages, so was expected to sell widely.

Should I plug it in to try it?

Bod

 

[guineafowl21]

More like a dimmer switch. Unfortunate name - all I can think of is ‘tragic electronics’. Having said that, my wife once bought a charging point called ‘CrazyFire’ so names aren’t everything...

The correct answer would probably be - get it PAT tested first.

The realistic answer: Check flexes for damage, and plugs for correct wiring and fusing. Make sure the earth is continuous all the way through.

Plug in a tool on bypass first, then experiment with the variable speed. Make sure it’s a brush motor!

 

[Woody2Shoes]

From the blurb and the photo, the terms 'solid state' and 'SCR' strongly suggest this is an electronic device like a lamp dimmer - not a rheostat.
PS +1 for the safety tips already posted above

 

[Bod]

I was brave, I took the back off....

Not exactly current state of the art.
Still not pluged it in.

Bod

 

[guineafowl21]

Yes, essentially a dimmer switch. Old point-to-point wiring, but flex in modern colours.

Send it in to BigClive.

 

[Felix]

It looks like a speed controller. Switched to 'Lo' will allow voltage(speed) to be controlled by rotary dial and 'Hi' will by-pass rotary controller and run machine at full speed

 

[samhay]

Those carbon comp resistors are pretty old.
May have been rewired at some point?
As long as the earth is intact I'd happily plug it in and test with a lamp. Don't exceed the max current draw, although the resistors may be there to help with that.