This belonged to my grandfather who we think worked for Serck Radiators in the mid-20th century. I am told it is probably a heat exchanger which dates to the 1940s or 1950s because it includes aluminium. It fits snugly in a box that is 11 inches long and 6 inches tall. The mark on the side of the cylinder appears to include the word ALPHA and the numbers around it are 2, 5 and 5. If anyone can shed any further light on what it is I would be most grateful.

Thank you for your responses – the date is an interesting thought that hadn't occurred to me. As far as I know granddad had no connection with boating, and this object is one of the few possessions he kept by him to the end of his life, so it seems to be something that had sentimental value for him.

Also forgot to say in my original post that there are lots more photos in my album showing what is inside the tube etc.

Edited By Engineer’s relative on 17/12/2013 17:56:02

Sorry I don't know what it's made of apart from the aluminium mentioned in my original post.

Thank you for your response – I can see it looks quite similar.

We have offered the heat exchanger to a few museums as we no longer want to store it, but there have been no takers. If anyone can suggest a new home or would be interested in having it please let me know.