Help identityiing old wires ?

[Guest Tom Streeter]

Hello there ....!  Does anyone have any idea what these wires are for ?  I purchased a whole mess of stuff from an auction. This guy had tons of old car parts. Most were from 1905 - 1930 vintage. At first I thought these were a strand of christmas tree lights but then when I looked at them, I realized that they are individual wires with green ( glass or hard plastic) thing at one end and a lead or metal type thing on both ends.  Apparently the application is electrical. Could they be some type of prehistoric distributor or batttery wires or something ? Thank you !

[hddennis]

Just a guess but are they the same inside diameter as a battery terminal?  Many years ago I saw a garage from the first part of the 20th Century that stored cars long term or during the winter. There was a bench on a back wall that had a large battery charging system and all the stored cars batteries were stored on this bench with wires similar to these hooked to each one.

 

Howard Dennis

Edited May 29, 2017 by hddennis (see edit history)

[TerryB]

Yes, it seems like parts to an early battery tender system.

Terry

[Hans1]

They are definitely for a battery charger.

If you have Red caps, they are  for the Negative batt terminal.

 

 

 

[Restorer32]

What you have found are the seldom seen Juice Worms. They sneak up on any batteries you have stored, attach themselves to the battery posts and suck all the charge from the battery. As they grow their tails get longer and longer. You apparently stumbled across a nest of the varmints. Yours are all females, the males display red heads. They are most often seen in pairs. Remember being told to never set a battery on concrete? Had nothing to do with the battery discharging. Juice Worms cannot  bear the feel of wood. As long as a battery is setting on a piece of wood the worms can't get to it. Years ago you would see lengths of chain or rubber dangling from the rear axles of cars in an attempt to dissipate any static charge that might build up in a car. This practice was stopped when folks realized that Juice Worms would make their way up the strap and head straight for the battery. The ones you have with no coloring are the juveniles. You caught them in their yearly act of molting. Once a year they sluff off the covering on their tails and new coverings form and harden over a few days. During this time they are known as Soft Shell Juice Worms. As with locusts there are several different broods. The 6 volt and the 12 volt broods are fairly common but there are also 1.5, 9 and 24 volt broods though these have never been photographed in the wild. . Very little else is known about their life cycle.

[Mark Shaw]

1 hour ago, Restorer32 said:

What you have found are the seldom seen Juice Worms. They sneak up on any batteries you have stored, attach themselves to the battery posts and suck all the charge from the battery. As they grow their tails get longer and longer. You apparently stumbled across a nest of the varmints. Yours are all females, the males display red heads. They are most often seen in pairs. Remember being told to never set a battery on concrete? Had nothing to do with the battery discharging. Juice Worms cannot  bear the feel of wood. As long as a battery is setting on a piece of wood the worms can't get to it. Years ago you would see lengths of chain or rubber dangling from the rear axles of cars in an attempt to dissipate any static charge that might build up in a car. This practice was stopped when folks realized that Juice Worms would make their way up the strap and head straight for the battery. The ones you have with no coloring are the juveniles. You caught them in their yearly act of molting. Once a year they sluff off the covering on their tails and new coverings form and harden over a few days. During this time they are known as Soft Shell Juice Worms. As with locusts there are several different broods. The 6 volt and the 12 volt broods are fairly common but there are also 1.5, 9 and 24 volt broods though these have never been photographed in the wild. . Very little else is known about their life cycle.

Restorer32,

    Prior to seeing this, I had no idea what these were.  But after seeing your post, I checked my parts bin and found another species of juice worms! 

These juice worm tadpoles have evidently developed ears so they can detect high amperage batteries!

[Marty Roth]

I never cease to be amazed at the combined experience displayed on this site -

 

especially by those whose prior experience includes Jackalope Husbandry/ranching.

 

Keep up the good work, guys.

Edited May 30, 2017 by Marty Roth (see edit history)

[Terry Wiegand]

And Mr. Shaw is running for the Board of The Buick Club of America!  OH MY!!  I nearly hurt myself laughing so hard!  And Marty, you had to go and encourage him.

 

Terry Wiegand

Out in Sunny Doo Dah

[Mark Simmons]

I agree with Marty !  To the very few (as yet) unanswered what is it's questions, I am sure that sooner or later that they will be answered as well. Not only does the amount of knowledge displayed in these forums amaze me but more so the depth of that knowledge. Collectively there is nothing you people can't shed some light on if not answer 100%. Here's to you guys, my hat's off in acknowledgement of your great work.  

[Xander Wildeisen]

One of the best posts ever, thank you Restorer32 for shinning a light on this touchy seldom talked about issue.

[Restorer32]

1 hour ago, Mark Shaw said:

Restorer32,

    Prior to seeing this, I had no idea what these were.  But after seeing your post, I checked my parts bin and found another species of juice worms! 

These juice worm tadpoles have evidently developed ears so they can detect high amperage batteries!

You have stumbled  across a nest of very rare Diamondback Juice Worms. Some say these are venomous.  They also reportedly taste like chicken.

[Marty Roth]

49 minutes ago, Restorer32 said:

You have stumbled  across a nest of very rare Diamondback Juice Worms. Some say these are venomous.  They also reportedly taste like chicken.

 

By the way, these can be safely captured, but if grabbed behind the neck on bare structure, are known to be responsible for that "tingling" sensation from the "Juice" these Diamondbacks are so famous for. The British species is also known for emitting SMOKE along with their JUICE. Everyone knows that British vehicles run on smoke, but losing the smoke causes them to quit.

 

Locals now prepare CHICKEN down here, and they can be very tasty - 

 

I'm told they taste like ALLIGATOR  !!  

Edited May 30, 2017 by Marty Roth (see edit history)

[hddennis]

33 minutes ago, Marty Roth said:

 

By the way, these can be safely captured, but if grabbed behind the neck on bare structure, are known to be responsible for that "tingling" sensation from the "Juice" these Diamondbacks are so famous for. The British species is also known for emitting SMOKE along with their JUICE. Everyone knows that British vehicles run on smoke, but losing the smoke causes them to quit.

 

Locals now prepare CHICKEN down here, and they can be very tasty - 

 

I'm told they taste like ALLIGATOR  !!  

Marty, occasionally you can run across New Old Stock  SMOKE on eBay thereby allowing you to get the British species back on the road.

Howard Dennis

[60FlatTop]

I think they a ear buds for an RCA Victor phonograph.

 

Is that Tom Streeter from Rochester?

Edited May 30, 2017 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[Bhigdog]

Come on guys. Everyone knows what they are but are afraid to speak up for fear of a deletion. It's actually a micro photograph of a gaggle of sperm cells. The green ones are good to go. The hollow ones are from old dudes like me..................Bob

[Guest]

You guys are all crazy, that's why I like you and follow this clutch of posts.

[Mark Shaw]

Tinindian; be on the lookout....

     Juice worms from Canada can be identified by the extra insulation on their tails....

 

Edited June 1, 2017 by Mark Shaw (see edit history)

[vermontboy]

I lived in an old farmhouse until I was 3 and it ran DC power with an old Westinghouse glass battery system recharged by a generator hooked to an old hit or miss engine....