headlight fluid
A fictional ostensible automotive product, used in jokes, to prank someone into searching for the nonexistent item (a snipe hunt), or to gauge how inept someone is in basic auto mechanics.
Industrial supplies, equipment, and components
400 entries in this trade.
heating element
A device used for the conversion of electric energy into heat, consisting of a heating resistor and accessories.
heck-box
A grating device used to separate and guide the threads in a warping machine.
helping hand
A jig used to help solder wires and electronics, consisting of a weighted base, a pair of adjustable arms ending in crocodile clips (the hands), and sometimes a magnifying glass, held together by flexible joints.
honeycomb coil
A type of coil structure used in electrical wire winding, in order to reduce capacitive effects.
hopper car
A railroad freight car which is used to transport bulk materials in a hopper, the load being usually discharged through one or more hinged doors at the bottom of the car.
hopper wagon
A railway goods wagon which is used to transport bulk materials in a hopper, the load being usually discharged through the bottom of the wagon.
hot chassis
A metal chassis, used as a base for electrical equipment, that is live because it lacks a transformer to isolate the equipment from the mains.
hydraulic fluid
A synthetic or mineral-based fluid that transfers power in hydraulic equipment and machinery.
hydrostatic pressure relief system
A system of drains and moisture barriers used to regulate the hydrostatic pressure in the earth surrounding a below-grade structure.
IED
Initialism of Intelligent Electronic Device, a sensor, actuator, or PLC used as part of a SCADA system.
impedance coil
a coil of wire designed to provide impedance in an electric circuit
inkball
A leather-covered dauber, stuffed with soft, resilient wadding, with a wooden handle, used to ink type forms for printing. A predecessor of brayers and self-inking presses.
intake valve
A valve in the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine that controls the passage of fluid to be drawn into the cylinder.
intermediate switch
A light switch with two pairs of two terminals, which can be switched between straight-through or swapped wiring. Typically used as part of a circuit to control a light or other device from three or more locations.
jack
A mechanical device or utensil used for lifting.
jellybean part
A commonly available electronic component that may be readily replaced with similar ones, often made by different manufacturers.
Jim Crow
A tool for bending railway rails, by holding the rail with two arms and pushing a screw into the other side.
Johnson thermoelectric energy converter
An electrochemical heat engine, with no moving parts, which can take a heat source and convert it to electric power, or take electric power to cool the thermal interface. A device which pushes hydrogen gas through a proton-exchange membrane (PEM), using either heat-induced pressure or electricity to drive the process.
jump wire
An electrical wire with connector pins at each end that connects two points without soldering.
jumper cable
An electrical cable providing a connection between rail or road vehicles.
KERS
Acronym of kinetic energy recovery system, an electric generation, storage, and propulsion system used in Formula One, which generates electricity during slow down, stores energy in batteries, and boosts acceleration with electric drive motors assisting the gasoline engine.
landing gear
The bipod stand found near the front end underneath a truck trailer, used to keep the trailer level when not attached to a tractor truck.
lap belt
A seat belt that passes over the hips and does not itself provide restraint to the upper body (although it may be part of a larger system another component of which does provide upper-body restraint).
lazy Kate
In spinning, a device used to hold one or more spools or bobbins in place while the yarn on them is manipulated.
Leyden jar
A glass jar or bottle used to accumulate static electricity between two electrodes.
light vehicle
A vehicle designed to carry small loads or a small number of passengers up to an officially set weight or number, such as a car, van, motorbike, scooter, etc.
limit switch
Originally, a device used to define the limit of travel of an object.
line conductor
A wire or cable that transports electrical current from the power supply to the consumer, usually color-coded with a brown or black casing.
lithium ion battery
A type of rechargeable battery containing lithium compounds but not elemental lithium, used in many consumer electronics devices.
lithium-ion battery
A form of rechargeable battery containing lithium compounds, but not elemental lithium, used in many consumer electronics devices.
live load
Temporary load that the roof structure must be designed to support, as required by governing building codes. Live loads are generally moving and/or dynamic or environmental (e.g. people, installation equipment, snow, ice or rain).
live wire
An electrical wire through which there is a flow of electrical current.
load
Any component that draws current or power from an electrical circuit.
load bank
A piece of electrical test equipment used to simulate an electrical load, to test an electric power source without connecting it to its normal operating load.
loading gauge
A physical structure, often a metal frame above a railroad track, to check the maximum height and width of a vehicle.
long block
An engine subassembly that consists of the assembled short block, plus the crankshaft, cylinder head, camshaft (usually), and valve train.
long Tom
A device formerly used in California for washing gold from the earth or mineral spoil with which it is excavated. It is a sloping wooden trough which widens at the lower end.
Lorenz gauge
A partial gauge fixing of the electromagnetic vector potential, used to eliminate the redundant spin-0 component in the (1/2,1/2) representation of the Lorentz group.
lossless junction
An interconnection point between components or transmission lines where the total power or energy entering the junction is exactly equal to the total power or energy leaving it.
lost neutral
A dangerous situation where the neutral wire in a split-phase power system becomes broken or disconnected, forcing all electrical current to flow directly between the two line wires and exposing loads connected between line and neutral to unstable and potentially-excessive voltages, posing a risk of equipment damage, electrical fire, or electric shock.
low wire
A cable carrying electrical power at fifty volts or less.
LS-swap
A car where the engine has been replaced by a General Motors LS-series internal combustion gasoline engine.
lug
A device for terminating an electrical conductor to facilitate the mechanical connection; to the conductor it may be crimped to form a cold weld, soldered or have pressure from a screw.
machining center
Any of a class of machine tools with computerized control and actuation, usually and especially of the CNC type.
mag wheel
A wheel for a motor vehicle, made from an alloy of magnesium, typically lighter and offering better heat conduction than steel wheels; often styled in a five-point star pattern; (sometimes also) a wheel made to look like such wheels but not truly of magnesium.
magnetic strip
A strip of magnetic material on which data is stored for later retrieval and reading by an electronic device.
major appliance
A nonportable or semiportable machine used for routine housekeeping tasks such as cooking, washing laundry, or food preservation.
manettino
A rotary switch in some Ferrari cars, mounted on the steering wheel, used to adjust the electronics governing suspension settings, traction control, electronic differential, and change speed of electronic gearbox.
manual transmission
A multi-speed vehicle transmission, where gear changes require the driver to manually select the gears by operating a gear stick and clutch (which is usually a foot pedal for cars, or a hand lever for motorcycles).
mass haul diagram
A diagram illustrating the amounts of material that will be cut from the terrain and used to fill other areas, for example when building a railway.
mesh current
In mesh analysis: a construct representing a component of current associated with a particular mesh (loop); the real current on a wire is the sum of the (either positive of negative, depending on direction) mesh currents running through it.
mica insulator
A sheet of electric insulator material made from mica placed between a power semiconductor device and the heat sink.
microcontroller
A microcomputer on a single chip, used to control some device such as an automobile engine or a toy.
mile marker
A numbered milepost or sign along a highway, or some other road, used to determine the location of a motor vehicle.
mill car
A car that operates on rails laid in a mill or factory, usually for carrying bulk materials and waste.
mixed gauge
A description of a railway track with (usually) three rails, which enables trains of two different track gauges to run over it.
motor bogie
A bogie fitted with one or more traction motors, for the purpose of propelling a diesel-electric or electric train or locomotive. Many locomotives have three-axle motor bogies.
motor coach
A powered railway vehicle, designed for passenger transport, capable to pull (or push) other railroad cars (compared to a railcar which only consists of a single railway vehicle with a driver's cab at both ends).
mouldboard plough
A farm tool that is used to cut, lift, and turn soil for primary tillage operations.