Petzl Carbide lamp..

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Petzl Carbide lamp..

Postby killian » Feb 10, 2007 7:10 pm

I had posted a question on my new petzal carbide lamp. i had a problem with when it got bumped on a rock or what ever it would flare up. i got a couple of replays on how to fix it.. on suggestion was put the carbide in a sock... Well i tried this and the heat from the reaction of the water and carbide started to burn the sock witch in turn ruined the felt sponge thing that was in side. it worked great but smelled funny... :tonguecheek:
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Postby NZcaver » Feb 10, 2007 7:34 pm

Not sure if this helps your situation, but one of the first things I was told to do with a new carbide lamp was throw away the felt filter. Replacing it with a cut-to-size piece of that green nylon (Scotchbrite?) dish scrubbing pad seems to work more reliably and efficiently. I did this with my original Premier cap lamp, and then with the Petzl Ariane generator I later acquired. On those rare occasions I use carbide any more, I guess the flame does flare a little when I bump the generator - but it's never really been much of an problem for me. :cool:
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Carbide

Postby greycaver » Feb 10, 2007 7:36 pm

Any carbide light that I've owned has done the same thing. When the lamp is bumped it shakes up the carbide ,

which momentarily produces a little more gas. It only lasts a moment and I've never heard of an over pressure from it.
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Postby killian » Feb 10, 2007 8:32 pm

NZcaver i was also told to trow away the filter. Guess i don't have to do that anymore it burned almost completely up. :tonguecheek: I Had the problem pretty much solved till this happened if flared out on me like 2 times but that's all. i also heard that pantyhose would work but if a sock burns i am afraid what will happen to that. Love carbide but want to keep my butt part of my body. no small explosions on me!!!!!!!!!! :grin:
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Postby Tim White » Feb 11, 2007 10:00 am

Whoever told you to use a sock got it wrong! :doh: It is pantyhose. I've been using that technique for years and it works well.
Be safe,
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Postby killian » Feb 11, 2007 12:17 pm

Found out the hard way. so pantyhose does not burn? :question:
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Postby Realms » Feb 11, 2007 12:19 pm

Its a wonder you didn't ruin your generator with the sock. It holds water and will really overheat the generator. Tim's right. Use pantyhose. They don't hold the water like a sock will. But will keep the carbide all contained and out of the inlets and outlets.
never stop imagining what could someday come to pass...
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Postby killian » Feb 11, 2007 12:22 pm

Realms, i kinda messed it up by melting the string that hold together the filter as well as burning up the green felt like piece. fro got who told me the sock thing... :doh:
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Postby Baazalung » Feb 11, 2007 2:27 pm

1. Bumping is GOOD :kewl: making more gas=> more light
2. The purpose if the sock is to keep the hose clean (otherwise small particles of carbide will block it) BUT it does retain water, thus resulting less gas than supposed to.

I usually bump my carbide lamp against walls willingly. It's so fun...:) :tonguecheek:
It's better down here than out there...
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Postby killian » Feb 11, 2007 2:39 pm

Worked great for the time that i used it. the result was a burnt sock and burned up filter as well as a smell that probably is terrible for you... :grin:
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Postby Chris Chenier » Feb 19, 2007 12:29 pm

Some friends have been using a cotton sock for years (regular cheap tube socks; they might not be 100% cotton, but that doesn't matter). My girlfriend starting using one about 3 years ago. Last summer, I finally decided to give it a try and have been using it since. Yes, it's a bit more trouble to get the carbide in the sock instead of directly in the lamp, but it makes for a much easier cleanup afterwards (actually no cleanup in most cases). I'm not sure what we're doing different from you, but I never heard of a sock burning.
Because the sock does absorb some water, it takes a couple of minutes more to get the lamp burning at first, and it will last a while after the water is turned off at the end of the trip. I guess I should try pantyhose just to see how it compares, but right now I'm fully satisfied with using my cotton sock.
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Postby chickie hawk » Aug 4, 2007 11:35 pm

dont need no stinkin filter use panty hose it works just fine
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Carbide generators

Postby emesine » Oct 26, 2007 3:57 pm

The best carbide generator I have ever seen was a home-brew. Better by far than any commercial lamp.

Two aluminum bottles (old mouse bottles are about the right size) with rubber stoppers. One held carbide, the other water. The caver would blow into a tube into the water side, putting it under pressure (there was a pincher on the tube to keep it under pressure). There was a tube between the two bottles made out of old IV tubing from the hospital with a roll clamp. When the light got low, the caver opened the roll clamp, and water squirted into the carbide container. There was a long hose running from the carbide container to the burner. A few layer of cotton at the bottom of the hose acted as a crude filter. All connections through the rubber stoppers were made with brass tubing, all materials are readily available from your local hardware store.

Cheap, easy, and it worked great. Only problem- if the roll clamp is left open the generator quickly over-pressurized and blows the rubber stoppers out with a very audible boom :)
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post subject

Postby KENTO » Oct 29, 2007 4:07 pm

Just one question, how did they get the old mice to go in the bottles but not the young mice? Sorry, I couldn't resist, that silly image jumped immediately to mind. This is actually rather inspirational and I have just the materials to try it with. I bought a 4-pack of " Bud Light " in heavy gauge aluminum bottles recently in hopes to perhaps fabricate a copy of the White Box Alcohol Stove, ( see discussion with Links in this forum by Rick Brinkmann ) But I would rather just buy the production model for a mere 20 bucks and make 2 Carbide Lamps much more simply. Any details on the jet/reflector config would be most helpful, Emesine. I am thinking the Premier head unit that came with their old waistmount generators would work well, If I could ferret one out of some cavers old gear stash. COOOuuuhhhhLLL !!!!
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Carbide lamp

Postby emesine » Oct 29, 2007 10:13 pm

The credit for this lamp goes to a Croatian guy whose name I can't remember. He was at IU in Bloomington for a year or so; we took him to a few nice caves. I copied his carbide lamp because it worked so well.

As for the burner, I bought a very simple burner from ?imo years ago. I'm not sure what is available now. The only thing I saw on their website was the Petzl generator.

I've always wanted to scale the design up to an enormous lamp capable of putting out a 2 foot flame. It wouldn't really be all that hard. You could use large diameter pvc pipe......

Have fun- be careful, it really will explode. Don't use anything to hold the stoppers in. I kept the generator in a hip pack with only a velcro closure, no strap or buckle. That way it could pop the stoppers out when necessary!

Andrew


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