Fully stocked bomb shelter opened after 50 years

[Pixilated]

The home's current owner should open it to the public and charge admission ... it looks like a museum.

[KatherineB]

I was just coming here to post that. Isn't it incredible?

[sms001]

Very cool! More than a little scary that an Air Force colonel thought it necessary. (And doesn't "Multi-Purpose Food" sound delish!)

[lordlundar]

<sees the tomato and chicken soup>

Yeahhh, NOT touching that stuff.

To clarify, Tomatoes and chicken broth are acidic in nature, love to dissolve the tin and no food grade varnish (which is sprayed in the inner walls to resist corrosion) cannot withstand 50 years of the corrosion.

I'm actually amazed those cans have lasted as long as they have.

[Greenday]

That's insanely awesome. Love it!

[AdamAnt316]

Now that's a time capsule! Fun fact: I actually own an example of the shortwave radio in the bomb shelter (Zenith "Trans-Oceanic" H-500, circa 1951-53), as well as a Civil Defense geiger counter similar to the one in that article (Victoreen CD-V700). Both still work, to some degree. Of course, the batteries needed for either one are unlikely to last 50+ years, especially the carbon-zinc type common in those days.....

[Victory Sabre]

I would LOVe to own that house. I'd have so much fun in that bomb shelter.

[Chromatix]

Old radios: AFAIK the valves, inductors and resistors will generally keep pretty well, but the capacitors will probably have dried out and thus require replacement, as will the batteries of course.

I am reminded, however, of the Scott Expedition camp that was rediscovered in the Antarctic. It still contained a decent quantity of stores cached by the expedition to use on their way back - preserved for decades in the frigid climate. A volunteer sampled some of the tinned pemmican (the nearest modern equivalent is, I think, corned beef) and pronounced it entirely edible.

[AdamAnt316]

Old radios: AFAIK the valves, inductors and resistors will generally keep pretty well, but the capacitors will probably have dried out and thus require replacement, as will the batteries of course.

Depends. Generally, tubes (valves) will keep damn near forever, as long as they're still under vacuum (quite a change from the days of old, when the mindset was that, if something broke down, it was "probably a bad tube"). Old inductors usually (though not always) keep fairly well, though the adjustable ones tend to drift, and the capacitors sometimes found within the metal cans can go bad. Old resistors are usually somewhere in the ballpark, but "carbon composition" ones often drift in value quite badly if exposed to enough heat or humidity. Old capacitors do tend to go bad, though it depends on the type (film capacitors generally hold up better than paper types), and sometimes old radios manage to work to some degree even on drifted old caps.

[wolfie]

Generally, tubes (valves) will keep damn near forever, as long as they're still under vacuum (quite a change from the days of old, when the mindset was that, if something broke down, it was "probably a bad tube").

Tubes are storage-stable. The old-days mindset originated when tube equipment was in regular use - a failed filament (essentially the same as a burned-out light bulb) was a common cause of tube (and therefore equipment) failure.

Old inductors usually (though not always) keep fairly well, though the adjustable ones tend to drift, and the capacitors sometimes found within the metal cans can go bad.Old capacitors do tend to go bad, though it depends on the type (film capacitors generally hold up better than paper types), and sometimes old radios manage to work to some degree even on drifted old caps.

How can an adjustable inductor drift without the movable core actually being moved? As for capacitors, the ones to REALLY watch out for are electrolytics, which can dry out. These would be the ones in the metal cans, and are most often used for power supply filtering. It's common in restoration of old equipment to assume that the electrolytics have gone bad.

[AdamAnt316]

Tubes are storage-stable. The old-days mindset originated when tube equipment was in regular use - a failed filament (essentially the same as a burned-out light bulb) was a common cause of tube (and therefore equipment) failure.

Yeah, I have tubes from the 1920s which still work about as well as they were able to make them work back then, as seen in this radio. The only thing I needed to replace were resistors, one of which was an early wirewound type where the resistance wire was plainly visible.

How can an adjustable inductor drift without the movable core actually being moved? As for capacitors, the ones to REALLY watch out for are electrolytics, which can dry out. These would be the ones in the metal cans, and are most often used for power supply filtering. It's common in restoration of old equipment to assume that the electrolytics have gone bad.

I think it's largely due to changes in temperature and humidity, causing the core and other stuff within the can to move slightly, bringing things out of adjustment. Adding to it are other components within the circuit also drifting in value, and even after replacing said drifted components with brand new ones, adjustments are often necessary.

Electrolytic capacitors can definitely be a pain. They can actually last a long time if used regularly, but are definitely ticking timebombs once they get old enough (20-30 years, sometimes less). Occasionally, they can be "reformed" by bringing up the voltage going to them slowly, but it's typically only a temporary fix.

[sms001]

as seen in this radio

Wow! Nice work.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I would LOVe to own that house. I'd have so much fun in that bomb shelter.

Me too. I could live in that shelter - just throw out the old food stuffs and restock with fresh stuff that I actually eat (tomato soup . . . Ewwwwww) and repaint the walls.

Not to mention installing WiFi.