OT: does any1 no anything about carbide lamps?

You'll have better luck at a camping or spelunking supply store. Carbide is generally sold in 1-lb cans, which usually are sufficient to last through a season.

Harry C.

Just a note: I have an acetylene fixture in my house. If you look in the basement there are several 1/2" pipes running up through the walls for the rest of them. The one is still mounted on the wall. It is complete other than the glass globe. I guess at one time there was a cistern in the front yard that one would fill with water and then throw is calcium carbide. The pipes in the basement were tapped into the airspace in the cistern.

JW

I would think the pipes are for city gas, and they are gas fixtures. My house is/was piped for gas lighting in each room, the 1/2 inch pipes are still in the walls.

I doubt that your system used an uncontrolled application of carbide into a large pool of water, most acetlyene generators drip water into the carbide. The reverse would cause a rapid evolution of a lot of acetlyene.

Could it be that you had city gas laid on at your house at one time? If not, they may have put a real acetylene generator into the pit you call a cistern. Is this house in a city or out in the country?

Jim

There's a fair amount of collector interest in these lamps and I've used a couple for caving in the past. Carbide is available from some outdoor sports suppliers, I've gotten it from the local surplus/camping store in 50 lb tins. I've never heard of carbide lamps being used for railroading, most of the stuff in this area is from mining, but I suppose they could have been used. The railroad signal lamps I've seen have been kerosene, oil or electric. There was also a lot of use in the early days of automobiles for lighting, I've still got a burner for a headlamp kicking around somewhere. There's at least one book on collecting carbide lamps out there, the local library has a copy. This one looks like just a standard hand-held lantern, unless there's railroad markings, I can't see paying a premium for it.

Stan

There's a fair amount of collector interest in these lamps and I've used a couple for caving in the past. Carbide is available from some outdoor sports suppliers, I've gotten it from the local surplus/camping store in 50 lb tins. I've never heard of carbide lamps being used for railroading, most of the stuff in this area is from mining, but I suppose they could have been used. The railroad signal lamps I've seen have been kerosene, oil or electric. There was also a lot of use in the early days of automobiles for lighting, I've still got a burner for a headlamp kicking around somewhere. There's at least one book on collecting carbide lamps out there, the local library has a copy. This one looks like just a standard hand-held lantern, unless there's railroad markings, I can't see paying a premium for it.

Stan

The father of a friend of mine had a household acetylene system where he grew up. Relatively constant gas pressure was maintained by having a basket with carbide under a floating cover. When enough gas built up, it lifted the carbide out of the water. When the gas pressure dropped, the carbide would be lowered into the water, make more gas, etc.

Doug White

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If you check eBay, you'll find a guy selling it in pound quantities (actually about 12 ounces of carbide net) for $12 or so including shipping. Much more per pound, but you may not need 12 pounds.

At least one of the shooting suppliers also carries it in small quantities. Shooters often use carbide lamps to blacken their sights.

John Martin

It may still have been shot. With an excess of water, the reaction is to calcium hydroxide. With less water, I believe that it can go instead to calcium oxide. Unslaked lime, which will produce heat when slaked with water. So, it may have generated heat but no acetylene.

John Martin

Oh, it was acetylene all right. Great clouds of it. Actually I rather love the smell, funny that some folks hate it.

I think aroma preferences must be biochemical in origin. My wife says the smell of gasoline sickens here, both my daughter and I think that it smells great. Go figure.

Jim