Showing posts with label Carbide lamp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carbide lamp. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Carbide bicycle lamp.


In the old days lamps on vehicles were of various sorts. One of these varieties was a 'carbide lamp'. Calcium carbide nuggets or powder was put in the bottom container. Water was added to the top container. An outlet from the water tank had a nut to stop and also to control the water-flow as droplets onto the carbide particles in the bottom tank. This released acetylene gas which was led by a copper tube to a nozzle in the lamp chamber. A flame was applied to the nozzle when the acetylene started burning. On closing the glass front of the lamp there was a steady bright beam of light ahead.
I came across this lamp in Kandy, Sri Lanka in the 1980s and bought it for Rs.100/- It was manufactured by 'Lucas of Birmingham, UK' in the heydays of British Empire and had been bought in Ceylon of those days.