TiggerToo
Well-known member
How were navigational buoys' lights powered in the days before solar panel charged batteries?
Nav Buoys' Lights
- Thread starter TiggerToo
- Start date
bikedaft
Well-known member
paraffin?
Motor_Sailor
Well-known member
Acetylene Gas Buoys.—Although some experimental work was done as early as 1896, acetylene gas was first regularly used for buoy lighting early in the 20th century when automatic water to-carbide generators were employed in Canada for producing the gas, the generators being placed in the body of the buoy. This system never gave entirely satisfactory results and its use is attended by danger of explosion. It has almost everywhere been superseded by the dissolved acetylene system first applied to buoy lighting in Sweden. The normal acetylene buoy equipment maintains the light without recharging up to 1 2 months.
Electric Buoys.—Buoys have been fitted with electric light both fixed and occulting. Six spar buoys were laid down in the Gedney channel, New York Lower Bay, in 1888. The wear and rear of the cables, by which current was supplied from a shore station, caused considerable trouble and expense, and the lights were replaced by gas-lighted apparatus in 1904. Electric buoys were also used extensively in Germany early in the 20th century; but by 1929, very few, if any, examples of this method of buoy lighting remain in service.
Electric Buoys.—Buoys have been fitted with electric light both fixed and occulting. Six spar buoys were laid down in the Gedney channel, New York Lower Bay, in 1888. The wear and rear of the cables, by which current was supplied from a shore station, caused considerable trouble and expense, and the lights were replaced by gas-lighted apparatus in 1904. Electric buoys were also used extensively in Germany early in the 20th century; but by 1929, very few, if any, examples of this method of buoy lighting remain in service.
Motor_Sailor
Well-known member
From USCG History:
In 1851, Charles Babbage, of London, published a paper about putting lights on buoys. However, it would be another 20 years before technological advances could make lighted buoys a reality in the United States. Inventors patented designs that employed oil-vapor lamps, similar to those used in lighthouses, but they had no concept of the dynamics to which a buoy was regularly subjected.Some designs were more fanciful than others. One inventor patented an electric buoy with a motion sensor which, upon detecting a ship passing close by, would sound an alarm and fire a rocket into the sky.
The first electrically-lit buoy tested by the board was a simple spar with a lantern housing and light on top. Deployed in Gedney's Channel, New York harbour, in 1888, a series of these buoys was lit by a cable running to a generator on Sandy Hook, N.J. These were removed in 1903.Richard and Julius Pintsch and John Foster independently developed and tested compressed gas buoys as early as 1883. The Foster buoy resembles the Courtenay's buoy in shape, but contained acetylene gas which lit a lantern on top. Problems with this buoy included its tendency to roll down into a swell in rough seas and extinguish itself.
The Pintsch gas buoys were the most successful of the compressed-gas lighted buoys, but it took years of testing and improving before they were marketable. Originally designed and patented in Germany, these buoys were sold to the US Lighthouse Service in the early 20th century through the Safety Car and Electric Company of New York. They had removable 6-to 8-foot-long cylindrical containers which held six to 12 months' of fuel. They were relatively easy to tend.
1869 - Pintsch supplies 105 light buoys for the newly opened Suez Canal.
In 1851, Charles Babbage, of London, published a paper about putting lights on buoys. However, it would be another 20 years before technological advances could make lighted buoys a reality in the United States. Inventors patented designs that employed oil-vapor lamps, similar to those used in lighthouses, but they had no concept of the dynamics to which a buoy was regularly subjected.Some designs were more fanciful than others. One inventor patented an electric buoy with a motion sensor which, upon detecting a ship passing close by, would sound an alarm and fire a rocket into the sky.
The first electrically-lit buoy tested by the board was a simple spar with a lantern housing and light on top. Deployed in Gedney's Channel, New York harbour, in 1888, a series of these buoys was lit by a cable running to a generator on Sandy Hook, N.J. These were removed in 1903.Richard and Julius Pintsch and John Foster independently developed and tested compressed gas buoys as early as 1883. The Foster buoy resembles the Courtenay's buoy in shape, but contained acetylene gas which lit a lantern on top. Problems with this buoy included its tendency to roll down into a swell in rough seas and extinguish itself.
The Pintsch gas buoys were the most successful of the compressed-gas lighted buoys, but it took years of testing and improving before they were marketable. Originally designed and patented in Germany, these buoys were sold to the US Lighthouse Service in the early 20th century through the Safety Car and Electric Company of New York. They had removable 6-to 8-foot-long cylindrical containers which held six to 12 months' of fuel. They were relatively easy to tend.
1869 - Pintsch supplies 105 light buoys for the newly opened Suez Canal.
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Plum
Well-known member
As already said, compressed acetylene gas provided the energy source for the flame and they were lit both day and night but what has always fascinated me was the mechanism that controlled the timing/flash cycle of the light was also powered by the compressed gas. Has anyone got a drawing or sectional drawing showing how that mechanism maintained the timming of the flash?
Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
Motor_Sailor
Well-known member
That mechanism sounds intriguing but so far I can't find anything.
But I have found out how the Pintsch gas was manufactured and that it was principally used to light train carriages as it was easily compressed and burnt so brightly.
MANUFACTURE OF PINTSCH GAS
Navigation lights
In 1878, the successful illumination of buoys was first achieved by Pintsch's Patent Lighting Company Ltd using their compressed oil-gas system. The gas became a popular means of illuminating buoys, beacons and unmanned lighthouses, because it allowed the devices to remain lit for several months without servicing. The Clyde Lighthouse Trustees were the first company to adopt the system officially. That was followed by the Suez Canal Company, which installed 59 buoys and 39 beacons lit using Pintch's system, to enable the canal to be navigable by night as well as by day. The buoys held compressed gas sufficient for two months' constant illumination between refills.
In 1884, the Pintsch company demonstrated its system as part of a trial of different lighthouse illuminants conducted on the cliffs by the South Foreland Lighthouses. After the trials, the Corporation of Trinity House purchased the associated gasworks and re-erected it at their Blackwall depot to manufacture Pintsch gas for its own use. In the following year, they established the first of a number of illuminated buoys and unattended beacons on the Thames Estuary using the system. By 1886, over 200 Pintsch gas-lit buoys, beacons, lighthouses and lightships were operational, in North and South America, Australia, and around the coasts of Europe, as well as on the Suez Canal.[ The automatic apparatus used in Pintsch gas beacons enabled them to be installed in relatively inaccessible locations, or used for 'unwatched' or unattended lights.
Pintsch gas lights continued to be used for navigation into the 20th century, but after the First World War, Pintsch gas began to be superseded by acetylene as the preferred fuel for unattended navigation lights. By the early 1930s, very few buoys or beacons were still being lit by Pintsch gas.
But I have found out how the Pintsch gas was manufactured and that it was principally used to light train carriages as it was easily compressed and burnt so brightly.
MANUFACTURE OF PINTSCH GAS
Navigation lights
In 1878, the successful illumination of buoys was first achieved by Pintsch's Patent Lighting Company Ltd using their compressed oil-gas system. The gas became a popular means of illuminating buoys, beacons and unmanned lighthouses, because it allowed the devices to remain lit for several months without servicing. The Clyde Lighthouse Trustees were the first company to adopt the system officially. That was followed by the Suez Canal Company, which installed 59 buoys and 39 beacons lit using Pintch's system, to enable the canal to be navigable by night as well as by day. The buoys held compressed gas sufficient for two months' constant illumination between refills.
In 1884, the Pintsch company demonstrated its system as part of a trial of different lighthouse illuminants conducted on the cliffs by the South Foreland Lighthouses. After the trials, the Corporation of Trinity House purchased the associated gasworks and re-erected it at their Blackwall depot to manufacture Pintsch gas for its own use. In the following year, they established the first of a number of illuminated buoys and unattended beacons on the Thames Estuary using the system. By 1886, over 200 Pintsch gas-lit buoys, beacons, lighthouses and lightships were operational, in North and South America, Australia, and around the coasts of Europe, as well as on the Suez Canal.[ The automatic apparatus used in Pintsch gas beacons enabled them to be installed in relatively inaccessible locations, or used for 'unwatched' or unattended lights.
Pintsch gas lights continued to be used for navigation into the 20th century, but after the First World War, Pintsch gas began to be superseded by acetylene as the preferred fuel for unattended navigation lights. By the early 1930s, very few buoys or beacons were still being lit by Pintsch gas.
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Motor_Sailor
Well-known member
" The flashing light or characteristic of a gas buoy was produced by a small pilot light igniting a burst of gas from a regulated flashing chamber. Gas pressure builds in a diaphragm chamber to a preset level; it is then released and ignited to produce a bright flash. The chamber may be regulated to produce different flashing characteristics; flashing every 2 seconds, etc. . . . "
Buoys - Guideposts of the Sea | US Lighthouse Society
In 1883, Mr. William B. Rickman patented a very ingenious addition to this apparatus for producing occulting or flashing light. The apparatus is automatically worked by the issuing compressed gas on its way from the buoy to the burner. After passing the regulator where the pressure of the gas is reduced for burning, it enters a cylindrical chamber covered with a diaphragm of very flexible specially prepared leather, this diaphragm, on being slightly raised by the in-flowing gas, communicates motion to a lever, which, assisted by a spiral spring, closes the inlet pipe, and opens at the same time the passage to the burner. As the gas passes on and is consumed at the burner, the diaphragm by its own weight, assisted by the spring, sinks, and touching the lever, closes the outlet aperture to the burner, and at the same moment opens the inlet of the gas from the buoy for another charge. Thus the light is extinguished while the gas is entering the chamber, and until the latter is refilled, when the passage from the buoy is again closed by the rising of the diaphragm. A small pilot jet is constantly burning to insure the re-ignition of the gas when re-admitted to the burner. It is evident that several characteristic distinctions of light may be obtained by modifications of this ingenious apparatus.
Beacon Lights and Fog Signals1 - Nature
Buoys - Guideposts of the Sea | US Lighthouse Society
In 1883, Mr. William B. Rickman patented a very ingenious addition to this apparatus for producing occulting or flashing light. The apparatus is automatically worked by the issuing compressed gas on its way from the buoy to the burner. After passing the regulator where the pressure of the gas is reduced for burning, it enters a cylindrical chamber covered with a diaphragm of very flexible specially prepared leather, this diaphragm, on being slightly raised by the in-flowing gas, communicates motion to a lever, which, assisted by a spiral spring, closes the inlet pipe, and opens at the same time the passage to the burner. As the gas passes on and is consumed at the burner, the diaphragm by its own weight, assisted by the spring, sinks, and touching the lever, closes the outlet aperture to the burner, and at the same moment opens the inlet of the gas from the buoy for another charge. Thus the light is extinguished while the gas is entering the chamber, and until the latter is refilled, when the passage from the buoy is again closed by the rising of the diaphragm. A small pilot jet is constantly burning to insure the re-ignition of the gas when re-admitted to the burner. It is evident that several characteristic distinctions of light may be obtained by modifications of this ingenious apparatus.
Beacon Lights and Fog Signals1 - Nature
