Fort Wayne Electric (1881-1915)

Slattery Induction Meter (Single Phase)

(1889-1892)                                                                           
Not much is known right now about this meter, but it was a lamp-hour meter to go with the electric system developed by Marmaduke Marcelus Michael Slattery (whew!) for the Fort Wayne Electric Company. This meter was designed and sold prior to Thomas Duncan's arrival at Fort Wayne, and was discontinued after Slattery passed away in 1892 (all the equipment he had developed was quickly discontinued in favor of better equipment developed by J. J. Wood and others at Fort Wayne).
Photo: GE at Ft. Wayne: 110 Yeas

Duncan Lamp-Hour Meter (Single Phase)

(Early 1890s)
This model was developed by Thomas Duncan shortly after his arrival at Fort Wayne Electric Company. This meter is the only model (besides Shallenberger's ampere-hour meter) that uses a fan brake. This model may have been short-lived as arc-lamp systems were starting to give way to series-connected incandescent streetlighting systems at this time. Another version of this model was built and sold specifically as an ampere-hour meter. The data I have so far indicates it was built very similar to the Shallenberger ampere-hour meter except the coils are side by side instead of front and back. At this time I do not know which model came first.
Photo: Electric Meter History and Progress

Duncan Watthour Meters (Single Phase)

(1892 to 1898)
The first model shown represented a landmark in watthour meter development. This model was developed by Thomas Duncan in 1892, two years before O.B. Shallenberger introduced his watthour meter. This also predated Tesla's patent on the induction motor principle - this was one of his many patents bought by Westinghouse, and the one that was invoked in 1903 against all the other manufacturers (except for GE due to a licensing arrangement). It was also the first meter to use a single disk for both the driving and braking element. For reasons unknown, Duncan never patented or adapted this model for production. If he had done so, Duncan would have had a significant advantage over GE and Westinghouse!

The second model of the watthour meter Duncan later developed for the Fort Wayne Electric Corporation. The overall appearance of this meter is very similar in design to the Thomson Recording Wattmeter introduced by Thomson-Houston around that time. The main difference between this model and the T.R.W. is in the arrangement of the coils and the can-type rotor (which carried over into the K series of meters). Duncan may have been inspired to base his new meter design on the TRW as he did work for a short time in the 1888-1889 timeframe at Thomson-Houston alongside Elihu Thomson while the Ft. Wayne Electric Co. rebuilt its facility after the disastrous fire of 1888.
Photo: Electric Meter History and Progress

Fort Wayne Electric Works Type K (Single Phase)

(1899 to 1908)
This model (and its succeeding models) continued the design of the watthour meter Thomas Duncan developed for the Fort Wayne Electric Corporation but in a more compact case. E.J. King was the developer of this and all succeeding K series meters sold by Fort Wayne Electric Works (By this time, Duncan had left for brief stints with Westinghouse and Siemens & Halske before starting his own company in 1901). As shown in the picture, this model has an unique profile - rectangular cast cases (aluminum or glass cover, iron base) with a large rounded hump in front. The current coils are positioned outside the rotor at the 10:00 and 2:00 positions. The potential coil on all models is positioned underneath the rotor, with a reactance coil near the bottom of the meter. The retarding magnet on these meters is vertical and straddles a portion of the rotor. The low-torque version (single magnet) version came out in 1899, the high-torque (dual magnet) version came out in 1902. This is also the only model in the K series of meters with a lag coil that could be reconnected for use on 60 or 133 Hz circuits.
Photo: David Turner collection

Type K-1 (Single Phase)

(1908, 1909) 
The K-1 was a refinement of the K with some modifications of the windings and magnetic circuits to reduce internal losses. The rotor was changed to add a removable lower pivot and a brass nameplate was used on the case instead of cast lettering on the K's case. Both the low-torque and high-torque versions were introduced in 1908. The K series of meters were available with 2 different terminal arrangements - under the main cover or in a separate compartment.
Photo Credit: Top: Dale Sindelar; Bottom: Phil Shelley 

Type K-2 (Single Phase)

 (1909)
The K-2 was an improvement over the K-1 with a redesigned current coil assembly with fewer ampere-turns and a shielded core added. This reduced the internal losses and better shielded the meter from external fields. Both the low-torque and high-torque versions were produced in 1909.
Photo Credit: Don Price collection  

Type K-3 (Single Phase)

(1909 to 1915)
 The K-3 meter was an improvement over the K-1 and K-2 meters with a lighter rotating element and a slightly improved method of winding to reduce losses, but otherwise the K-3 was physically unchanged from the previous models. The low-torque version came out in 1909, the high-torque in 1910. The K-3 shown has the same type of glass cover as used on some K-1 and K-2 meters. Also, the picture shows the dual-magnet arrangement of the high-torque version.
Photo Credit: Electrical Meterman’s Handbook 

Type K-4 (Single Phase)

(1910 to 1914)
The K-4 was a radical departure from the earlier Fort Wayne meters. Although it resembled GE's I-10 meter (while being slightly larger), it still had the same basic design of the earlier Fort Wayne meters, including the cup-shaped rotor. Most of the known K4 meters are bottom-connected, but a top-connected version also exists.
Photo Credit: David Turner Collection  

Type K-5 (Single Phase)

(1913 to 1915)
 In 1915, GE absorbed the Fort Wayne Electric Works (which it had wholly owned since 1898) and operated it as an extension of their meter plant in West Lynn, MA (making I-14s, IP-5 prepayment meters, and demand metering equipment) until meter manufacturing was discontinued at Fort Wayne in May 1929. The last model under the Fort Wayne label, the K-5, was just a GE I-14 with a Fort Wayne nameplate on it, except for the brake magnet and disk. The brake magnet was formed from the same rounded bar stock as used on the GE Type I. Also, the disk has the same "pinprick" pattern the Type I uses instead of the I-14's corrugated disk.
Photo Credit: David Dahle 

Type K (Polyphase)

(1899 to 1908) 
This model is similar to the K-1 polyphase except for having the nameplate cast into the cover as with the single phase version

Type K-3 (Polyphase)

(1908 to 1910) 
   The K3 polyphase meter consisted of two 2 single phase elements stacked head-to-head and mounted in a large case. This model was available with glass or metal covers.
Photo Credit: Bud Russell 

Type K (Prepayment)

(1905 to 1916)
The case of this prepayment meter was a modified version of the single phase meter with an integrated "Wood" prepayment device. This meter used the element of the K, K-1, K-2, or K-3, depending on which model was in production at the time. The coin (either a quarter or a dime) was inserted into the knob and turned. As the knob turns, the coin is sent down the front of the meter into the coin box at bottom and a spring in the prepayment device at top is wound, advancing the credit counter by one. As the rotor turns, it slowly unwinds the mainspring in the prepayment device, and when it gets down to 0, a switch lever is tripped, breaking the circuit through the meter. Besides the combined version, the "Wood" prepayment device was available separately for use with K series watthour meters outfitted with a momentary contact device on the register and resembles GE's Form 3 prepayment device.
Photo Credit: Left – Electrical Meterman’s Handbook; Right – Electrical Meters and Measuring Instruments 

Type K (Switchboard)

(1899 to 1910)
The Fort Wayne switchboard meter was identical internally to the service type meter and was mounted in a round case with glass sides (as with some early GE switchboard meters) to allow visibility from all sides. This version had the meter data on the front glass (sandblasted into the glass) and register.
Photo Credit: Northeast Utilities collection 

Type K-3 (Switchboard)

(1910 to 1915)
This is similar to the Type K switchboard meter but it incorporates all the improvements of the K-1, K-2, and K-3 meters. Also, the meter nameplate data is now on a standard nameplate on the current coil bar instead of being etched into the front glass.
Photo Credit: Electrical Meterman’s Handbook 

KM-1 (Rotating Standard)

(1900s)
Rotating standards are used as a "standard" meter against which to check the accuracy of a given watthour meter. The two meters are connected in series, and a thumbswitch is connected to the voltage winding on the standard. The standard is reset to 0 by a lever, then the meter under test is allowed to make a given number of revolutions, using the mark on the edge of the disk and a given point on the case or nameplate. After the meter under test has completed the number of revolutions, the thumbswitch is opened and a reading taken from the standard's register. The difference between the two in revolutions is then used to compute the accuracy of the meter being tested so it can be adjusted accordingly. Not much is known of the KM-1, but the internal construction was very likely similar to that of the other K series meters. Most standards use a set of terminals or a drum switch to set the current rating of the standard, but the KM-1 used a set of pins (similar to the Westinghouse B rotating standard).
Photo Credit: Phil Shelley