Gas lights, what fuel?

[Great Lakes Greg]

I was going to convert some headlights to electric, but am now contemplating using the original gas innards. What fuel source is safe for this setup?

 

[Jack Innes]

The gas lights were meant to burn acetylene gas. You can use a Prestolite tank - plumber's "B" cylinder or the original acetylene gas generator that used water & calcium carbide to create the gas.

 

[Royce P]

I run mine on the original Carbide generator on the running board using calcium carbide.

I purchased a case of ten one pound cans here:

http://www.karstsports.com/mingradcalca.html#.VJ2HzBsBg

A handful of carbide gives about 1 hour of light.

The light is bright, and the experience is worth the effort. This is my '14 touring just before a carbide lamp drive last month:

Here are the directions that were inside a new old stock Corcoran generator that I purchased years ago from Bud Scudder:

I was going to convert some headlights to electric, but am now contemplating using the original gas innards. What fuel source is safe for this setup?

 

[Royce P]

One thing that needs to be explained in the instructions - the carbide should be placed in the upper, inner basket. The V-shaped trough (yellow arrow) is the place where carbide sits. Water from the upper tank drips right in the middle of this trough.

 

[C26Pinelake]

Amazing or what ? Thanks guys!
Wayne

 

[Great Lakes Greg]

Yeah, good stuff, guys.

 

[Ed in Maine]

Royce, thank you for your post on the lights on your 1914 Model T. I also have the same car with the Corcoran Lights. I often wondered how they would look if they were lit. I am amazed that they are so bright. Thanks again for the info. Ed

 

[Royce P]

Ed,

They are surprisingly bright. Carbide lights work very well indeed.

 

[Skolzie]

Royce, I'm not clear on the part of placing the cc only in the trough. Appears to me that this would be only a small amount of cc. The baskets I've viewed, have a series of holes in the bottom of the trough, to distribute the water. I have never used the trough type, as mine has the wire rod to create a "splash".

Any comments from users? George

 

[Jack Innes]

George, You are correct, the carbide was meant to be in the basket & the trough is intended to spread the water evenly. The spent carbide would find itself through the screen & would collect in the bottom container which is usually removable to clean it out. The waste product is calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) & can become caked & difficult to remove if not cleaned regularly.
For demonstration purposes to produce a small amount of acetylene you could put some carbide in the trough if the generator has one, but you would want to clean it well while still wet.

 

[Royce P]

I've only ever placed it in the trough. The trough holds just enough for about 2 hours if you filled it level. Sometimes chunks of carbide bounce out of the trough and land on the screen. They sometimes survive intact because no water comes into contact with them.

Water drips straight down from the center of the trough. There are no holes in the trough. None. The two sides of the trough meet in the center, and all water drips from the center directly downwards. If you placed carbide in the screened area it seems like much of it would be entirely missed by the water?

I can only speak from my experience of doing this for many years with several different Model T's. I don't have any carbide generators that do not have the trough. I've used Corcoran, E&J, and Brown generators. All work the same way and internally are nearly identical.

Royce, I'm not clear on the part of placing the cc only in the trough. Appears to me that this would be only a small amount of cc. The baskets I've viewed, have a series of holes in the bottom of the trough, to distribute the water. I have never used the trough type, as mine has the wire rod to create a "splash".

Any comments from users? George

 

[Jack Innes]

Royce, I am sure your method works fine. In actual use when the lights were used often the basket of carbide did not need to be refilled for each use. You turned the water off when almost home & the gas would stop on arrival. Turning the water on the next time would start the process up again.

Here is the page of instructions for the 1914 Ford lights;

 

[mhsprecher]

Miners used carbide lights up until recently - maybe 25 yrs ago? Maybe they still do, for all I know.