"Paul Crabtree" wrote ...
I have just purchased a Darton Thermograph on Ebay, looked a good
idea
at the time !
It has now safely arrived and appears to be in semi working order,
clock and rotating chart appears to work but the ink has all dried
up
and I suspect the nib is damaged.
Just wondered if anyone had any links to a full working order
device,
or some instructions regards the ink and nib.
Brief photo on here http://tiny.cc/4z12x


.... can't get that link to work for me - I get a '404': if you're
going to go in for what I suppose nowadays would be regarded as
'legacy' instrumentation, then it might be an idea to get hold of the
'official' book(s) that covers such equipment as I doubt (though might
be proved wrong) that such will be found easily on the Net.

The 'official' volume for the UK (and associated services), was the
Handbook of Meteorological Instruments (HMSO/Meteorological Office)
.... in several parts: the part you need is 'Part 1: Instruments for
Surface Observations'.

I see Amazon has some for sale, though not cheap ... £22= (+p&p) but
if you're into these things for the long haul, it would be a wise
investment.

On the specific ink/nib thing, IIRC, autographic instruments such as
this were eventually switched to integral nibs which we just slipped
onto the pen arm rather than all that messing about with cleaning the
triangular nib (methylated spirits) and dripping ink (carefully!) into
the nib etc., with the usual build-up of gungy-ink on the base of the
thermograph/hygrograph etc.

The problem was that the integral nibs would dry up suddenly (like a
'Biro') and unless you kept an eye on them, you could lose a 12-24hrs
worth of 'trace' (depending on how often the screen was visited), and
at this time, many offices were 'distant reading' temperatures rather
than traipsing out to the screen hourly (or more frequently) to read
the thermometers.

Someone in the newsgroup of course may have a copy of the publication
and might be able to scan the appropriate pages/diagrams.

Martin.


--
Martin Rowley
West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
Lat: 50.82N Long: 01.88W
NGR: SU 082 023