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Phlash in OK 01-21-2013 05:37:49 174.225.10.46 Report to Moderator	Does anyone remember the carbide generators used to produce acetylene for cutting and welding? They were also used for house lighting before rural electricty was available. The same principle was used for lamps for miners, coon hunters, etc. Can one buy big canns of carbide anymore? [Reply]   [No Email]
Hal/Eastern WA 01-24-2013 16:30:53 97.115.191.41 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   Some years ago, you could buy small tubes of calcium carbide called Bangsite at fireworks stands around 4th of July. It was used to make the gas to fire carbide cannons that were also sold at the fireworks stands. I had one as a teenager (one of my least practical purchases). It had a small reservoir for a little water and a mechanism that would drop a little Bangsite into the water. After doing that and waiting a few seconds, you pushed a knob that struck a lighter flint against a steel file, producing sparks that lit the air/acetylene mixture in the chamber above the water. If the mixture was right, the cannon sounded like a 12 gauge shotgun going off. I got into a little trouble with that thing a couple of times! The last time I went walking with my Uncle on what had been his farm, we looked through the junk pile. He pointed out the acetylene generator his father had used in the 20"s and early 30"s to do gas welding and cutting. Later my Uncle Bob tried using the generator and ended up having a small explosion that he said COULD have been the end of him. He decided that using gas cylinders was a whole lot safer than trying to use the old and maybe in poor shape acetylene generator. And they seldom gas welded any more, as they had REA electricity by the early 50"s and got a stick welder. Bob showed me how the generator worked. It was more or less the same as my cannon, except on a much larger scale. A measured amount of calcium carbide dropped into water inside a closed chamber of about 10 gallons. If I remember right as the acetylene was produced by the reaction of the carbide and the water, you needed to bleed off the first amount to get rid of the oxygen in the chamber and then the acetylene would pressurized the chamber. If everything worked right, you had usable acetylene for a while. After the reaction was complete, there would be lime in the water that needed to be cleaned out. Uncle Bob said I could have the acetylene generator if I wanted it, but I had to promise to never try to produce acetylene with it, since he thought it was just too dangerous. But I didn"t have a good way to haul the unit, and it had been sitting outside in the junk pile for 40 or 50 years, so I left it there. I did think it was very interesting though. A way to produce acetylene gas on the farm. [Reply]  [No Email]
Jimdril 01-23-2013 08:37:19 166.181.3.226 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   when in my youth, some 70 years ago, we used to take an empty paint can, punch a small hole in the back. Then we'd drop a couple grains of carbide in, spit on them, put the lid back on, put our foot on the can laying sideways, and light it at the hole. It would make a pretty good explosion and blow the lid quite a distance. If you got the mixture not quite right, it'd just make a flame,like a miners lamp, out the hole. [Reply]  [No Email]
Phlash in OK 01-23-2013 05:52:34 174.229.194.14 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   Interesting replies. Two of my uncles sold and installed these generators for home lighting probably in the 30's in NW Oklahoma. I know of two or three homes that had them. Our country church also had them. Don't remember any of them in use. My grandparents went from the acetylene lights to a 12 volt wind charger for lights. We used the white gas lamps in our home until REA came in 48 or 49. [Reply]  [No Email]
Dusty MI 01-22-2013 15:43:10 76.250.62.134 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   I was in a friends antic doing some wiring and there was a carbide chandelier all pack up. Apparently in had hung in that farm house, and when the house got wired the chandelier got packed up and put in the antic. Dusty [Reply]  [No Email]
Brian G. NY 01-22-2013 09:59:24 64.22.47.48 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   An old gentleman from our little town who was a professional welder among many other things, had one of those carbide generators for his torches. Worked really well and I expect he maintained it as it should be. He was still using it up into the 50s. I own an old farm house that has a carbide generator tank buried in the front lawn. It's about 4' in diameter and maybe 5' high with only about a foot sticking out of the ground. I don't think it has been used since the mid thirties when electricity came through here. The tank must be made out of good galvanized steel as there is barely any rust on it yet today. [Reply]  [No Email]
Jon Hagen 01-22-2013 13:43:54 69.26.17.61 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Brian G. NY, 01-22-2013 09:59:24   Years ago friends lived on a farm that was totally plumbed for carbide gas lights. The gas generator was set into the lawn at ground level, well away from the house. all outbuildings including the barn hayloft had open gas lights.(questionable wisdom with that hayloft installation, but the barn still stood ??. The system was not un use any longer as my friends used kerosene lighting as long as they rented the farm. I wonder if this system could be used in freezing weather of our ND winters. I dont know how they might keep the water drip / pressure regulator system workingin below freezing temps ?? I still have a half can of Cal-carbide I bought at the local blacksmiths sale, maybe 40 years ago. 1 inch below the white surface is good active black Cal-carbide. :) [Reply]  [No Email]
buickanddeere 01-22-2013 05:57:50 184.151.61.51 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   The shops that supply the Amish should carry carbide ? [Reply]  [No Email]
Richard from SE AZ 01-21-2013 21:55:55 206.169.89.203 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   Calcium Carbide is sold on fleabay. I buy it ocassionally because I collect those old miners lamps . I have about 40 and about half of them work. [Reply]  [No Email]
PJH 01-21-2013 21:43:38 50.40.255.82 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   Yeah, I remember two of those generators, in fact, I was about a block from one of them when it blew up. Blew the big swinging doors open, blew the window glass out of all the windows, even flapped the tin on the roof. I rode my bicycle down there real quick, and the old blacksmith was staggering around in a daze. Fire truck rolled up a few minutes later, but there was no fire. It was all over with the bang. The old guy's face was red all over, his hair was burned off everywhere his hat hadn't covered, and he had two white circles over his eyes where the little old-time gas welding goggles had protected his skin. You could even see where the little bead chain over his nose had been. The other blacksmith in town kept his cleaned up and working like a new one, and as far as I remember, never had a mishap with it. My welding instructer years ago said to run, don't walk, if anyone offers you a job and you find out there's an acetelyne generator working in the shop. He said that sooner or later it would kill someone. My personal experience has been 50% - it shoulda killed old Lawrence, but for some reason it just wasn't his time. Wrecked his shop & put him out of business though. Hope I haven't discouraged you, ha. As far as buying "big" cans of carbide - up until the mid 70's or so (I'm guessing) all the local hardware stores sold it in any quantity you could walk out the door with, but the last time I wanted some for my big coon light, I couldn't find it anywhere. The folks that used to sell it said it was too hazardous to mess with, too much liability, too much hassle. I remember when you could get a Prince Albert can full for a dime, but that was back when Hector was a pup. [Reply]  [No Email]
john *.?-!.* cub owner 01-21-2013 19:35:41 72.161.150.122 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   No idea on where to get carbide, but treat those generators with respect. we had a welding/machine shop in town that had one of those generators. owner had used it for years and was careful, but one day it blew the back wall out of the shop. just happened that he had walked to front of building to get something and was safe. [Reply]  [No Email]
Stick welding 01-21-2013 15:57:42 198.53.25.107 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   Acetylene generators are still used to produce commercial acetylene. The price of acetylene went way up a couple years ago because the only carbide plant in N. America had a HUGE explosion!!! [Reply]  [No Email]
old 01-21-2013 10:07:07 209.86.226.59 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   I do not know about the carbide generators used for that type of stuff but back when I was still part of a local caving club we used a carbide light on the helmets we wore. Found my dads the other day hanging up in his shop. [Reply]  [No Email]
flambeauone 01-21-2013 06:12:06 68.24.131.214 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   Bob and Bob cavers supply in Wheeling WV use to carry it. [Reply]  [No Email]
Russ from MN 01-21-2013 06:11:04 68.235.89.10 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   When I googled it I saw pictures of a larger container, but no price. The smaller containers are quite expensive. When I was young I had a miners lamp that my Dad had used for shining deer in the 30's! I remember our neighbors using a cutting torch that had an acetylene generator. They had about a 15 gallon barrel of calcium carbide in the corner of their shop. [Reply]  [No Email]
Mike (WA) 01-21-2013 06:10:49 174.31.214.54 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   The guy on whose farm I worked when I was a kid was trying to get his old one going when I came to work one day. Couldn't seem to get it going properly, but we could smell acetylene, smell getting more intense as he went along. He finally turned it off, and said "We'd better clear out of here before we get blown to Kingdom Come." Next time I went over, it was gone. [Reply]  [No Email]
GeneMO 01-21-2013 06:10:44 71.1.106.8 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   I found a place that sold it, maybe ten years ago. I bought several cans, about quart sized. I also found an old antique can at a flea market, believe it or not, it was about 3/4 full. Some of it had turned to powder, but I screened it out, sealed it up and it is still good. I use to collect and fix up old miners lamps. I have three or four that work. Gene [Reply]  [No Email]
bill mart 01-21-2013 06:06:55 69.204.65.189 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   Found this on google miners grade calcium carbide [Reply]  [No Email]
Jeff NWOH 01-21-2013 06:02:05 98.28.69.12 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Phlash in OK, 01-21-2013 05:37:49   I"m not sure if you or I can buy it, but I"m pretty sure it is still manufactured. I work In a steel mill where we used to get it in 1 gal cans by the pallet load, semi loads at a time. I believe we changed the way we treat heats and I dont see it around much any more. [Reply]  [No Email]
60 acre hillside 01-21-2013 12:24:41 67.142.170.25 Report to Moderator	Re: carbide- acetylene in reply to Jeff NWOH, 01-21-2013 06:02:05   I learned to use a torch with one of the generators. I was told to leave the shop if the pressure got over 15 psi. I also remember a boy at school who put a few lumps of carbide in the water fountain. [Reply]  [No Email]