Would this be the appropriate forum to discuss acetylene lamps? I don't see anything in the reference gallery. I see a lamp on the bay now and then... The one that I'm looking at now appears to be made for a hollow-wire system since I don't see any significant reservoir in the body of the lamp. I have access to acetylene, and this could be a nice diversion from liquid fuel pressure lamps/lanterns.
This is the open forum where all off-topic goes, so it's both correct and OK to talk about acetylene lamps here. It has been done many times before, but then mainly with acetylene lamps using calcium carbide.
Al, you might find further info on vintage motorcycle club pages, a lot of the early 'flat tank' bikes used acetylene lighting from a reservoir through tubing to the lamp units.
They could be called pressure lamps, and surely some could be called classic. But if you mean if they are what we focus on with this site, they aren't. But still more than welcome in the open forum, so ask your questions here and we will all help as much as we can.
Does anyone recognize this lamp? I'm curious to know if the center piece is a generator compartment, or if it needs and external source. I'm not keen to buy a acetylene bottle and regulator right now. Silly seller has it promoted as a unique oil lamp
In case it's an acetylene lamp it should have a small water reservoir and a regulating/dripping valve above a chamber filled with calcium carbide. Perhaps this valve is driven by the top nut? Using acetylene in hollow wire lamps is not a good idea because pressure must never increase beyond 200kPa, and in presence of copper (also contained in brass) it can happen to decomposite explosively by catalytic effects, see Wikipedia . Hollow wire was used with petrol, paraffin and petroleum gas / illuminating gas. BR, Martin
I doubt very much that this should be a calcium carbide lamp with a water- and carbide container. It looks like a chandelier type of lamp (upside down here and with the arms and shades mounted in a strange way) for gas lighting system (natural gas). The two burners however is indeed typical for acetylene burners! But perhaps gas light also used that kind? I never interested myself in those so I can't tell. Martin, acetylene was actually used in fixed installations with tubings to the central acetylene generator. I have atleast one catalogue over this system. Of course they couldn't use copper or brass pipes. They used iron for this. And the pressure was thoroughly regulated so it didn't explode "by itself" as acetylene can do when reaching 2atm.
Okay, that was new for me. However I got some concerns using acetylene myself... I already saw one of these acetylene generators. Earlier they were commonly used for welding purposes, and pressure is indeed well regulated. As an additional safety feature these generators push out the water from the generating chamber themselves when pressure is going beyond a certain limit, therefore stopping the generating process. Your theory about the shown lamp sounds plausible to me, provided that these "ring screws" in the branches of the chandelier are two gas shutoff valves. And I also agree that the shades don't seem to be mounted correctly. BR, Martin
I'm going to pass on this fixture, but I've got my eye out for self-contained table lamp. I've had a miners style lamp for ages, and it does make a wonderfully white light. Must be an interesting story on how this fixture got so turned upside down and inside out
The arms looks bent and there should be a regulator of waterdripping. The whole lot looks like a older gaslamp. The way the Shades sits is also strange. Here is a real one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y8hVoSUUeA Claus C
Yes, those two rings are most likely the levers for gas cocks which would be needed for a gas light. Well spotted! Ring shaped would also mean you could easily manouvre them with a rod if mounted high in the ceiling.
I'm inclined to think that the shades are mounted on the wrong side of their mounts. They should be hanging from the rings so that they surround the burners. Otherwise there is no point to the shades.
Yes, the shades are obviously on the wrong side, but not only that. If it is as I suggested, both arms has also been rotated 180 degrees.
I was tempted out of curiosity, but I'm overspent my lamp budget several times this month The fixture was cheap enough ($25US), but the additional $20US in shipping was more than I cared for. I'll watch the seller to see if relist it.
Claus, Christer and Nils have spotted the fact they are gas lamps, and the shades are the wrong way up. It also looks to me to have been a ceiling suspended unit rather than as shown, or at least perhaps mounted on a wall bracket within reach for control of taps. Chances of such a unit being table top are slim as the gas supply would need to be piped, and usually fixed to or within a wall through a meter from the mains.
Yes Derek, that's what I've been saying all the time. Hence why I said I think the arms are rotated 180 degrees, since I actually think the burners and contol cocks are positioned right in the picture even if the lamp itself appears to be "upside down" in a weird way to try to make it a table lamp.
I assume the principle of those V shaped burners that direct two flames toward each other to produce a single much brighter flame would work with any gas. Though natural gas obviously wouldn't be nearly as bright as acetylene...
These jets would almost certainly be designed to use coal gas or 'Town' gas as it was often called. Early gas lighting which appeared pre-Victorian, was sometimes little more than an open pipe like a Bunsen burner. More often though, jets named 'rats-tail', 'Cockspur', 'Cockscomb', 'Batswing' and 'Fishtail' were seen, each name reflecting the shape of the flame produced. These simple burners were eclipsed by the incandescent mantle which appeared in the late 1880's. This could well be a very early lamp unit. I can recommend the Shire publication 'Gas Lighting' by David Gledhill (Shire album No.45) ISBN 0 85263 539 7 A mantle unit similar in design from the early 1900's appears in that booklet - and hung correctly!
