On Mon, 17 Feb 2014 20:00:26 -0800, Pilgrim
wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

Somebody here must know the answer. Last Sunday we had some friends
over for brunch and one of the guys, a wood worker, told me about an
old house he worked on that was built before electricity was available
here on the island. He said there was a large steel tank sunk into the
ground and that "carbide" was poured into this tank to make
electricity for lighting. I'm thinking that what was really happening
was acetylene gas was being produced for gas lighting. I said as much
but he was pretty sure they were making electricity with the setup,
that it was some kind of battery. After looking online I am even more
convinced what he was looking at was an acetylene gas generator. But
since I'm not known for always being right, seeing as how I have made
one or two misteak's in the past; like speling or punctuatioin, I
though I'd ask the experts here if anyone has heard of "carbide
batteries".
Thanks,
Eric

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I don't think he is correct. When I was small during WWII we stayed for
part of a summer at a ranch in Montana. In the yard was a round tank
that stood about 18" above the ground that was said to be an acetylene
generator and the house was plumbed for gas light. I don't know how far
below ground the tank went or what was inside as I was forbidden to lift
the lid.

CP
I found re-prints of old ads for carbide to use for gas lighting when
looking for carbide batteries. I too am pretty damn sure there is no
such thing as a carbide battery. After asking here I'm even more
convinced. Tonight I'll be seeing the guy who told me about it. I may
be able to get a look at the actual tank, or what's left of it. There
is such a thing as a nickel/iron battery, but for any battery to be
useful it would need to have several cells, in order for the voltage
to be high enough to be useful for the lights available at that time.
Looking at the tank, if the lid comes off, would tend to answer that
question. If only one chamber then almost positive not an electric
cell of any kind. If several chambers then maybe they are cells. I
guess there would need to be nickel electrodes too.
Eric

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