# Please identify this wall fitting/fixture. What's it for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 11, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000 "2009-05-11T06:12:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/1 "2009-05-11T06:12:21Z")
[This](http://s200.photobucket.com/albums/aa109/tonyspizza/?action=view¤t=100_4675.jpg) fitting/fixture/thing sits about seven feet above the floor in the master bedroom. It’s six inches on a side. The rectangular hole in the middle is about two inches deep and contains a plastic rectangular brick with 12 holes, two of which contain electrical contacts. Does anyone have any idea what it is or what it’s for? I can’t figure it out… Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/2 "2009-05-11T08:18:39Z")
Could it be [this](http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6474032/description.html)? ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/3 "2009-05-11T10:50:53Z")
Could it be a phone jack for a wall mount phone? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/4 "2009-05-11T11:46:01Z")
It looks like our (electrical?) meter on our back deck. The meter reader plugs a device into it and gets a measurement. I know you said your is in the master bedroom, so that probably wouldn’t be it, but coud be some other type of reader? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/5 "2009-05-11T12:28:33Z")
Wag here. The person installing this was either in construction or an engineer. It appears to be some type of hardwired connection for a remote of some sort. I’m thinking it might have been salvaged out a hospital. Is there a ceiling fan or other electrical item that doesn’t work in that room? Have you checked the wires for voltage? Have you tried jumping the two wires (momentarily or course) to see what happens? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/6 "2009-05-11T15:59:00Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] Wag here. The person installing this was either in construction or an engineer. It appears to be some type of hardwired connection for a remote of some sort. I’m thinking it might have been salvaged out a hospital. [/QUOTE] I wag the same way. Soon as I saw that jack and its faceplate, something just said “medical equipment” about it. Is this the only one of its kind in the house? Seven feet up is a bit high to plug in a remote control for a lamp or ceiling fan, unless they had bunk beds. If there was a hook of any sort, I’d be thinking it was to support and power a clock. Any patched and painted-over holes nearby that you can see? There may have been a wall-mounted TV plugged into it, and they took down the TV mount but left the connector. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/7 "2009-05-12T03:55:04Z")
Thanks for your suggestions so far. I put the multimeter to the two contacts but there’s no voltage there. It’s the only one in the house that I can see and i don’t see any patched or painted over holes nearby… It’s funny, my first guess was medical equipment as well. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/8 "2009-05-12T04:21:15Z")
Have you jumpered the two wires to see if it creates a hole in the space time continuum? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/9 "2009-05-12T12:12:45Z")
It’s a dart launcher. You could buy them in the 70’s in any good spy store or home security retailer. The system launches the dart at the intruder when the sensors go off or it can be wired with a remote dead mans switch taking your murder with you. The system had different darts available. 1. Cyanide 2. Electric Taser - It was fitted in the holes with the metal contacts. 3. Curare 4. Bee Sting 5. Fire Ant 6. Viral - These were special order and you had to see what was available. 7. Radioactive - These were for slow death and tracking purposes. 8. Tracking Bug - These gave out a radio signal to be tracked. 9. Audio Bug - These sent back audio picked up in a 100 foot radius. 10. Anti Clotting - This gave them a dose of anti clotting agent so they would bleed to death from hemmoraging if not a battle wound. 11. Placebo - This was used to trick them into thinking they were going to die and you didn’t want them dead. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![StinkyBurrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@StinkyBurrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StinkyBurrito)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/10 "2009-05-12T14:17:43Z")
Can you take out the screws and look at the back of it (maybe post a pic)? Is there a manufacturer’s name stamped in the back somewhere? Can you see which way the wires go? Can you find the other end of them? ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/11 "2009-05-12T15:11:16Z")
Donny thinks it’s vacuum! ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/12 "2009-05-12T15:40:39Z")
[Here](http://shop.vetcosurplus.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=6852&osCsid=663fefb26109cf96c120a9cd3e725852) is a place selling connectors that look really similar. Your photo shows what appears to be a wall mount for half of such a connector. There has to be something at the other end of the wires. Until we know what that is, it’s hard to say what connected here. A bit of web searching shows these molex style connectors used for many different things. ---
**Author:** ![Shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/13 "2009-05-12T18:46:01Z")
Looks to me to be a connector for a hospital bed. There are some hospital beds that use that type of 12 pin molex connector. Might be for a Hill-Rom bed. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/14 "2009-05-14T03:02:02Z")
Alright, here are [some](http://s200.photobucket.com/albums/aa109/tonyspizza/?action=view¤t=100_4683.jpg) [pics](http://s200.photobucket.com/albums/aa109/tonyspizza/?action=view¤t=100_4686.jpg) of the inside, hope it helps. Thanks again. (I like the hospital bed idea) ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-wall-fitting-fixture-whats-it-for/496000/15 "2009-05-14T04:03:02Z")
Call inspector #10 and ask him.