Your oldest kit still in regular service

[ppppenguin]

I'm not talking about stuff that's a specifically part of a collection of vintage "toys" such as my Marconiphone 702 TV. What I'm getting at is electrical/electronic kit that's in routine service doing a real job. Special distinction if you've owned it from new or it's been in the family from new.

I think my oldest is the Murphy B842 portable radio that sits by my desk and is used almost every day. Bought by my parents in 1969 and used virtually every day since then. I'm listening to R3 on it now.

Grundig Elite Boy 700 radio. My kitchen radio. Bought new by my parents c1976 and used almost every day since then.

Electrolux 504 vacuum cleaner bought new by my parents c1976. Their only vac for many years. I still use it occasionally.

I bought my Bosch washing machine new in 1994. Has been used for just about all my laundry since then.

[Nick]

I bought my Bosch washing machine new in 1994. Has been used for just about all my laundry since then.

Ah! That explains a lot

[peter scott]

I'm still using my father's lathe and it is probably an antique (>100 years) although the motor only dates from about 15 years before my father died in 1975. So in electrical terms that's probably 57 years of use.

Peter

[Murphyv310]

Well Anne has her mums Philips food mixer from before she was born, possibly late fifties or very early sixties, still does sterling service. Although not used in the house I have my Dads 1958 KB Rhapsody, mains battery version.
We also have a 1999 Dyson DC04 one of the original lime and grey ones that have virtually disappeared, again works perfectly.

[Nick]

Being fair, I still use my wife's grandfather's watch, which dates from 1953, and a clock made from the propeller of his Bristol F2.B from WW1 - the propeller is massive - it's bolted on the wall with a plate I had made up by the local blacksmith and fixed through the wall onto an RSJ with 12mm studding

The centre of the clock face is a metal relief of his F2.B with the hand where the prop would be, and each quarter of an hour numeral is a relief of a type of plane he flew. The mechanism is set into the hub of the prop which is about 10ft across...

if you're talking about ELECTRICAL equipment, then I have a WWII MOD 5C/3023 switch unit from a Mosquito or Firefly which controls my workshop lights... picked it up years ago in an MOD sale, NIB.

   
   

[boater sam]

I first became acquainted around 1950, worked perfectly ever since, helped me out too many times to mention.
So good in fact that I married her in 1970, still going strong.
Sam.

[BusyBee]

The first thing that comes to mind is the Russian Multimeter I bought in the early seventies. I still use it often. It has the only transistor tester which seems to cope with Germanium transistors.

[ppppenguin]

I have my Fluke 8020, my first DMM, bought secondhand probably in the early 1980s. Still use it occasionally.

With some reluctance I have just consigned my father's tyre pressure gauge to the scrap metal bin. I really don't know how old it is but probably older than me (I'm 1956 vintage) and made by the Kismet compnay. It served my father well and me too but it's got stickier over the years, especially in cold weather. Got fed up with putting in my pocket for 10 minutes to warm up before using it. Replaced by a nice little dial gauge (no need for electronics here) which had good reviews and cost just over a tenner. It should easily last me out.

I've got a little Moulinex coffee grinder which has probably never been used for its original purpose. It's been in the family for several decades and gets occasional use grinding nuts etc.

[Kalee20]

Ferranti U1003a radio, which my mother bought at an auction (only a few years old as it is a 1958 model) and brought home while I was in my cot, my parents didn't have a radio till then. So been in the family since 1961 or 1962 (I was born December 1961).

Later they bought a turntable (Co-op) to use with it. This went years ago when they upgraded (to a Clarke & Smith record player! Bought new as a staff purchase, my father was a teacher), which went with my sister. But the Ferranti is still with us!

[Keithstv]

My parents KB GR10 radio bought in May 1952 and used regularly, usually to listen to RTE1. And my Quad 405 dating from 1978 still going but needed several repairs over the years. Oldest domestic appliance is probably our Hotpoint washing machine dating from 1996.

Keith