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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This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
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On 02/17/2014 07:50 PM, 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

My 2 cents (when did they take the "cent" sign off keyboards?)

Never heard of carbide electrical stuff. I usta play with
my dad's old carbide headlamp many moons ago, he was a coal
miner in his youth.

technomaNge
--

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

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus
protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

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

On 2014-02-18, technomaNge wrote:
On 02/17/2014 07:50 PM, 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

[ ... ]

though I'd ask the experts here if anyone has heard of "carbide
batteries".
Thanks,
Eric

My 2 cents (when did they take the "cent" sign off keyboards?)

When they switched from typewriters to ASCII keyboards for
computers. They needed too many other weird characters for computer
languages -- and even used the '$' as the lead-in character to certain
variable types instead of for money. :-)

(However, the cents sign '¢' (Does this show up on your terminal as
a cents sign? On mine it is a backslash followed by "242", indicating
that it is a character which my selected ISO-8859-15 won't/can't
display, or my editor can't display) is present on some mainframe
computers, which use EBCDIC instead of ASCII. (Also some other weird
symbols, including one like a square with the borders made of parens like
this ") (" (with two more above and below).

FWIW -- I typed the above character as "COMPOSE-c-/", just as I get 'ñ'
with "COMPOSE-N-~", It seemed like a likely code for that. A check on
another window shows that it does produce a cents sign -- on a Sun Unix
computer, at lest. :-)

Never heard of carbide electrical stuff. I usta play with
my dad's old carbide headlamp many moons ago, he was a coal
miner in his youth.

There was someone in this group about a year ago talking about
refurbishing old batteries which used a steel (or perhaps cast iron)
tank. I forget what the anode was. And I think that it used NaOH
(Sodium Hydroxide) as the electrolyte -- lye instead of carbide.
Perhaps this is what the tank was.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | (KV4PH) Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

My 2 cents (when did they take the "cent" sign off keyboards?)

If you have a Mac, try 'option - 4' for the ¢ character.

It goes out fine, but may or may be reproduced on your end depending on
any number of software compatibilities.

There is a 'Keyboard Viewer' included in OSX that can be turned on in
the upper right menu bar area. With it, you can quickly find & type most
anything.

I know little about 'dark side' (non Mac) machines, but I'm sure they
provide something similar.

Erik

On 18 Feb 2014 05:17:07 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:


though I'd ask the experts here if anyone has heard of "carbide
batteries".
Thanks,
Eric

My 2 cents (when did they take the "cent" sign off keyboards?)

When they switched from typewriters to ASCII keyboards for
computers. They needed too many other weird characters for computer
languages -- and even used the '$' as the lead-in character to certain
variable types instead of for money. :-)

(However, the cents sign '¢' (Does this show up on your terminal as
a cents sign? On mine it is a backslash followed by "242", indicating
that it is a character which my selected ISO-8859-15 won't/can't
display, or my editor can't display) is present on some mainframe
computers, which use EBCDIC instead of ASCII. (Also some other weird
symbols, including one like a square with the borders made of parens like
this ") (" (with two more above and below).

FWIW -- I typed the above character as "COMPOSE-c-/", just as I get 'ñ'
with "COMPOSE-N-~", It seemed like a likely code for that. A check on
another window shows that it does produce a cents sign -- on a Sun Unix
computer, at lest. :-)


Ah...gentlemen?

http://www.forlang.wsu.edu/help/keyboards1.asp

http://www.forlang.wsu.edu/help/keyboards.asp#map


--
"You guess the truth hurts?

Really?

"Hurt" aint the word.

For Liberals, the truth is like salt to a slug.
Sunlight to a vampire.
Raid® to a cockroach.
Sheriff Brody to a shark
Bush to a Liberal

The truth doesn't just hurt. It's painful, like a red hot poker shoved
up their ass. Like sliding down a hundred foot razor blade using their
dick as a brake.

They HATE the truth."


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On Mon, 17 Feb 2014 17:50:27 -0800, 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

Very likely that it was an "acetylene generator", essentially a tank
of water that you drop a little carbide into to generate acetylene for
either welding or lighting. There certainly is no magic Calcium
Carbide into electricity pixy dust available :-)


--
Cheers,

John B.

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...

There was someone in this group about a year ago talking about
refurbishing old batteries which used a steel (or perhaps cast iron)
tank. I forget what the anode was. And I think that it used NaOH
(Sodium Hydroxide) as the electrolyte -- lye instead of carbide.
Perhaps this is what the tank was.

Enjoy,
DoN.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel%...93iron_battery

http://www.zappworks.com/battery_prices.htm

"Jim Wilkins" fired this volley in news:ldvh46$n22
:


There was someone in this group about a year ago talking about
refurbishing old batteries which used a steel (or perhaps cast iron)
tank. I forget what the anode was. And I think that it used NaOH
(Sodium Hydroxide) as the electrolyte -- lye instead of carbide.
Perhaps this is what the tank was.

Enjoy,
DoN.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel%...93iron_battery

http://www.zappworks.com/battery_prices.htm

That's a terrible web site! They advertise a cost of '20-25% more than
lead acid", then ask $3300 for a 250AH battery! A 250AH lead/acid costs
in the range of about $220. So what is that price -- a pallet of 10?
They sure don't say so...

Then, in their specs page, they say one "should keep a 1/4" layer of
consumable grade mineral on top of the electrolyte". Oooohhhkay! Which
'grade mineral' might that be... basalt? granite? Ohhh... you mean't
"Consumable-grade mineral OIL!".

These guys are illiterate, incompetent, or liars. Asking 50% up front
and not shipping for 30 days after receipt of payment makes me leery. Of
all the types of batteries available, those can be built and stored
almost indefinitely -- so why would they not have stock ON HAND?

LLoyd

On Mon, 17 Feb 2014 23:11:00 -0800, Gunner Asch
wrote:

On 18 Feb 2014 05:17:07 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:


though I'd ask the experts here if anyone has heard of "carbide
batteries".
Thanks,
Eric

My 2 cents (when did they take the "cent" sign off keyboards?)



When they switched from typewriters to ASCII keyboards for
computers. They needed too many other weird characters for computer
languages -- and even used the '$' as the lead-in character to certain
variable types instead of for money. :-)

(However, the cents sign '¢' (Does this show up on your terminal as
a cents sign? On mine it is a backslash followed by "242", indicating
that it is a character which my selected ISO-8859-15 won't/can't
display, or my editor can't display) is present on some mainframe
computers, which use EBCDIC instead of ASCII. (Also some other weird
symbols, including one like a square with the borders made of parens like
this ") (" (with two more above and below).

FWIW -- I typed the above character as "COMPOSE-c-/", just as I get 'ñ'
with "COMPOSE-N-~", It seemed like a likely code for that. A check on
another window shows that it does produce a cents sign -- on a Sun Unix
computer, at lest. :-)

Whoever heard of _those_?


Ah...gentlemen?

http://www.forlang.wsu.edu/help/keyboards1.asp

http://www.forlang.wsu.edu/help/keyboards.asp#map

It may work for MS keyboards, but it doesn't work with my ACER
keyboard and Agent or Tbird. Alt+0162 does this ¢, though, in the
Times New Roman font. Other fonts use different mapping. sigh
I use Windows' own Character Map.


--
The most powerful factors in the world are clear
ideas in the minds of energetic men of good will.
-- J. Arthur Thomson

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

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus
protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

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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On Tue, 18 Feb 2014 07:01:47 -0600, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

"Jim Wilkins" fired this volley in news:ldvh46$n22
:


There was someone in this group about a year ago talking about
refurbishing old batteries which used a steel (or perhaps cast iron)
tank. I forget what the anode was. And I think that it used NaOH
(Sodium Hydroxide) as the electrolyte -- lye instead of carbide.
Perhaps this is what the tank was.

Enjoy,
DoN.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel%...93iron_battery

http://www.zappworks.com/battery_prices.htm

That's a terrible web site! They advertise a cost of '20-25% more than
lead acid", then ask $3300 for a 250AH battery! A 250AH lead/acid costs
in the range of about $220. So what is that price -- a pallet of 10?
They sure don't say so...

Then, in their specs page, they say one "should keep a 1/4" layer of
consumable grade mineral on top of the electrolyte". Oooohhhkay! Which
'grade mineral' might that be... basalt? granite? Ohhh... you mean't
"Consumable-grade mineral OIL!".

These guys are illiterate, incompetent, or liars.

7 hour dicharge? KWH battery prices? 2-yr warranty on "lifetime"
batteries? All their "rock bottom prices" have commas in them.
Hmm, Zapp 250Ah for $3,950 vs. IronEdison 300Ah for $2,910, and Zapp
calls their pricing "rock-bottom"? Lotta damned gall, wot?


Asking 50% up front
and not shipping for 30 days after receipt of payment makes me leery. Of

50% up front at the time of consult, then the remaining 50% prior to
waiting a month to ship? That's just crazy!


all the types of batteries available, those can be built and stored
almost indefinitely -- so why would they not have stock ON HAND?

Short shelf life on a "lifetime" battery, perhaps? thud

In total, the site makes me want to RUN AWAY!

This was an interesting read:
http://www.fieldlines.com/index.php?topic=146519.0
Is Zapp really rebuilding Edison cells?

Until there are more mfgrs, I think the pricing is going to remain
high, but the bastids are using centuries old technology and putting
it up as "new" and "green" for obscene profits, while likely reaping
rewards from the government's renewable energy programs.

--
The most powerful factors in the world are clear
ideas in the minds of energetic men of good will.
-- J. Arthur Thomson

"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote in message
. 3.70...
"Jim Wilkins" fired this volley in
news:ldvh46$n22
:


There was someone in this group about a year ago talking about
refurbishing old batteries which used a steel (or perhaps cast
iron)
tank. I forget what the anode was. And I think that it used NaOH
(Sodium Hydroxide) as the electrolyte -- lye instead of carbide.
Perhaps this is what the tank was.

Enjoy,
DoN.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel%...93iron_battery

http://www.zappworks.com/battery_prices.htm

That's a terrible web site! They advertise a cost of '20-25% more
than
lead acid", then ask $3300 for a 250AH battery! A 250AH lead/acid
costs
in the range of about $220. So what is that price -- a pallet of
10?
They sure don't say so...

Then, in their specs page, they say one "should keep a 1/4" layer of
consumable grade mineral on top of the electrolyte". Oooohhhkay!
Which
'grade mineral' might that be... basalt? granite? Ohhh... you
mean't
"Consumable-grade mineral OIL!".

These guys are illiterate, incompetent, or liars. Asking 50% up
front
and not shipping for 30 days after receipt of payment makes me
leery. Of
all the types of batteries available, those can be built and stored
almost indefinitely -- so why would they not have stock ON HAND?

LLoyd

===========
Do you like this one better?
http://ironcorebatteries.com.au/page2.php
That's $765 per CELL, 1.2KWH.

Lloyd E. Sponenburgh lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:
"Jim Wilkins" fired this volley in news:ldvh46$n22
:


There was someone in this group about a year ago talking about
refurbishing old batteries which used a steel (or perhaps cast iron)
tank. I forget what the anode was. And I think that it used NaOH
(Sodium Hydroxide) as the electrolyte -- lye instead of carbide.
Perhaps this is what the tank was.

Enjoy,
DoN.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel%...93iron_battery

http://www.zappworks.com/battery_prices.htm

That's a terrible web site! They advertise a cost of '20-25% more than
lead acid", then ask $3300 for a 250AH battery! A 250AH lead/acid costs
in the range of about $220. So what is that price -- a pallet of 10?
They sure don't say so...

Then, in their specs page, they say one "should keep a 1/4" layer of
consumable grade mineral on top of the electrolyte". Oooohhhkay! Which
'grade mineral' might that be... basalt? granite? Ohhh... you mean't
"Consumable-grade mineral OIL!".

These guys are illiterate, incompetent, or liars. Asking 50% up front
and not shipping for 30 days after receipt of payment makes me leery. Of
all the types of batteries available, those can be built and stored
almost indefinitely -- so why would they not have stock ON HAND?

the first giveaway that these batteries are complete made in a shed trash
is how the cover is fastened. Note the two visible screws.

Larry Jaques fired this volley in
:

http://www.fieldlines.com/index.php?topic=146519.0

So far, it seems like BeUtilityFree.com has the longest track record, and
warantees that exceed the others by 700%! They also warantee capacity over
time as well as workmanship and materials, while those dufuses at Zapp
guarantee nothing except the quality of their job, when delivered, IF
delivered.

Lloyd

On Monday, February 17, 2014 5:50:27 PM UTC-8, 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 think this gizmo is called an acetylene generator; if someone referred
to a 'carbide generator' for lighting, it was for a gas, not electric, light.
The 'generator' term is ambiguous enough to create confusion
and miscommunication.

On 2014-02-18, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Mon, 17 Feb 2014 23:11:00 -0800, Gunner Asch
wrote:

On 18 Feb 2014 05:17:07 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

[ ... ]

My 2 cents (when did they take the "cent" sign off keyboards?)



When they switched from typewriters to ASCII keyboards for
computers. They needed too many other weird characters for computer
languages -- and even used the '$' as the lead-in character to certain
variable types instead of for money. :-)

[ ... ]

FWIW -- I typed the above character as "COMPOSE-c-/", just as I get 'ñ'
with "COMPOSE-N-~", It seemed like a likely code for that. A check on
another window shows that it does produce a cents sign -- on a Sun Unix
computer, at lest. :-)

Whoever heard of _those_?


Which -- the "COMPOSE" key? -- anyone who is using a Sun
keyboard for unix workstations. Gunner (below) pointed to web pages
documenting the Microsoft keyboard sequences, and a link from there for
Mac keyboard sequences

But the original question was:

"when did they take the "cent" sign off keyboards?"

And it is truly *off* all computer *keyboards* using the ASCII
characterset (as it is not part of the standard 7-bit ASCII
characterset. All of the above and below are work-arounds to make up
for the absence of the "cents" key '¢' on any of the current
keyboards.

Ah...gentlemen?

http://www.forlang.wsu.edu/help/keyboards1.asp

http://www.forlang.wsu.edu/help/keyboards.asp#map

It may work for MS keyboards, but it doesn't work with my ACER
keyboard and Agent or Tbird. Alt+0162 does this ¢, though, in the
Times New Roman font. Other fonts use different mapping. sigh
I use Windows' own Character Map.

While I *can't* use it -- since I don't use Windows itself, and
it won't even *run* on most of my computers. :-)

And -- this incompatibility of special characters between
various systems and various programs on the *same* systems even, is why
I normally suggest that if the character isn't on a keycap on the
keyboard, *spell* out it's name so everyone can read it. I only used it
here to prove that there *were* work-arounds for many systems.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | (KV4PH) Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

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

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus
protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

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
In the late '50s, a local welding shop had two of these instead of
using bottled acetylene. One had been removed from a local church when
they changed thier lighting system over from gas to electricity. The
shop owner claimed that his cost was much lower due to much reduced
handling and transportation costs.
---

Gerry :-)}
London,Canada

On 19 Feb 2014 01:39:16 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

On 2014-02-18, Larry Jaques wrote:
On Mon, 17 Feb 2014 23:11:00 -0800, Gunner Asch
wrote:

On 18 Feb 2014 05:17:07 GMT, "DoN. Nichols"
wrote:

[ ... ]

My 2 cents (when did they take the "cent" sign off keyboards?)



When they switched from typewriters to ASCII keyboards for
computers. They needed too many other weird characters for computer
languages -- and even used the '$' as the lead-in character to certain
variable types instead of for money. :-)

[ ... ]

FWIW -- I typed the above character as "COMPOSE-c-/", just as I get 'ñ'
with "COMPOSE-N-~", It seemed like a likely code for that. A check on
another window shows that it does produce a cents sign -- on a Sun Unix
computer, at lest. :-)

Whoever heard of _those_?


Which -- the "COMPOSE" key? -- anyone who is using a Sun
keyboard for unix workstations. Gunner (below) pointed to web pages
documenting the Microsoft keyboard sequences, and a link from there for
Mac keyboard sequences

But the original question was:

"when did they take the "cent" sign off keyboards?"

(scratching head) I don't recall -ever- seeing a cent key on a
computer keyboard, but they were on typewriters. I didn't get into
computing until well after the PC came out, ca 1990 for me.


And it is truly *off* all computer *keyboards* using the ASCII
characterset (as it is not part of the standard 7-bit ASCII
characterset. All of the above and below are work-arounds to make up
for the absence of the "cents" key '¢' on any of the current
keyboards.

Ah...gentlemen?

http://www.forlang.wsu.edu/help/keyboards1.asp

http://www.forlang.wsu.edu/help/keyboards.asp#map

It may work for MS keyboards, but it doesn't work with my ACER
keyboard and Agent or Tbird. Alt+0162 does this ¢, though, in the
Times New Roman font. Other fonts use different mapping. sigh
I use Windows' own Character Map.

While I *can't* use it -- since I don't use Windows itself, and
it won't even *run* on most of my computers. :-)

Well, if Mr. Luddite ever came into the 21st century and got away from
his springpole lathe and gaslight computers...


And -- this incompatibility of special characters between
various systems and various programs on the *same* systems even, is why
I normally suggest that if the character isn't on a keycap on the
keyboard, *spell* out it's name so everyone can read it. I only used it
here to prove that there *were* work-arounds for many systems.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
The most powerful factors in the world are clear
ideas in the minds of energetic men of good will.
-- J. Arthur Thomson

On Tue, 18 Feb 2014 23:42:00 -0500, wrote:

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
In the late '50s, a local welding shop had two of these instead of
using bottled acetylene. One had been removed from a local church when
they changed thier lighting system over from gas to electricity. The
shop owner claimed that his cost was much lower due to much reduced
handling and transportation costs.
---

Gerry :-)}
London,Canada

Acetylene generators are fairly common in Asia, outside the big
cities. No bottle rental and calcium carbide and water are cheaper
then acetylene too :-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

On 19/02/14 11:35, John B. wrote:
On Tue, 18 Feb 2014 23:42:00 -0500, wrote:

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

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus
protection is active.
http://www.avast.com
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
In the late '50s, a local welding shop had two of these instead of
using bottled acetylene. One had been removed from a local church when
they changed thier lighting system over from gas to electricity. The
shop owner claimed that his cost was much lower due to much reduced
handling and transportation costs.
---

Gerry :-)}
London,Canada
Acetylene generators are fairly common in Asia, outside the big
cities. No bottle rental and calcium carbide and water are cheaper
then acetylene too :-)
A few years ago this was discussed and someone found a Swiss company
that made them still and was rather surprised. A quick search on "swiss
acetylene generator" turned up http://www.gloor.ch/pdf/P122_en.pdf .

On Wed, 19 Feb 2014 11:46:28 +0000, David Billington
wrote:

On 19/02/14 11:35, John B. wrote:
On Tue, 18 Feb 2014 23:42:00 -0500, wrote:

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

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus
protection is active.
http://www.avast.com
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
In the late '50s, a local welding shop had two of these instead of
using bottled acetylene. One had been removed from a local church when
they changed thier lighting system over from gas to electricity. The
shop owner claimed that his cost was much lower due to much reduced
handling and transportation costs.
---

Gerry :-)}
London,Canada
Acetylene generators are fairly common in Asia, outside the big
cities. No bottle rental and calcium carbide and water are cheaper
then acetylene too :-)
A few years ago this was discussed and someone found a Swiss company
that made them still and was rather surprised. A quick search on "swiss
acetylene generator" turned up http://www.gloor.ch/pdf/P122_en.pdf .

they are very much alive

http://www.gloor.ch/en/index.html


--
"A "Liberal Paradise" would be a place where everybody has
guaranteed employment,free comprehensive healthcare,
free education, free food, free housing, free clothing,
free utilities, and only Law Enforcement has guns.
And believe it or not, such a place does indeed exist . . . It's called PRISON.

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
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Larry Jaques wrote:



(scratching head) I don't recall -ever- seeing a cent key on a
computer keyboard, but they were on typewriters. I didn't get into
computing until well after the PC came out, ca 1990 for me.

IBM keyboards had the cent sign, as it was a character in their
EBCDIC character code.

Jon

On Wed, 19 Feb 2014 11:07:26 -0600, Jon Elson
wrote:

Larry Jaques wrote:



(scratching head) I don't recall -ever- seeing a cent key on a
computer keyboard, but they were on typewriters. I didn't get into
computing until well after the PC came out, ca 1990 for me.

IBM keyboards had the cent sign, as it was a character in their
EBCDIC character code.

Jon

Ayup. Which I have used for many years on most computers until they
got really scarce.


--
"A "Liberal Paradise" would be a place where everybody has
guaranteed employment,free comprehensive healthcare,
free education, free food, free housing, free clothing,
free utilities, and only Law Enforcement has guns.
And believe it or not, such a place does indeed exist . . . It's called PRISON.

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

On Tue, 18 Feb 2014 16:09:31 -0800 (PST), whit3rd
wrote:

On Monday, February 17, 2014 5:50:27 PM UTC-8, 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 think this gizmo is called an acetylene generator; if someone referred
to a 'carbide generator' for lighting, it was for a gas, not electric, light.
The 'generator' term is ambiguous enough to create confusion
and miscommunication.

It was a big tank where you dumped in calcium carbide chips and sealed
the lid. Then water would drip onto the carbide until the pressure
came up and the drip stopped - Run the lights or the torch and the
pressure drops, and the drip starts again.

Every few days or months (depending on size and use) you'd shovel out
the hydrated calcium goop, and refill it with fresh chips - which is
why you had two (or more) generators, so when the first one pooped out
you could switch over and service the exhausted one.

For welding shop flows, you might need two or three generators to keep
up.

On Wed, 19 Feb 2014 11:46:28 +0000, David Billington
wrote:

On 19/02/14 11:35, John B. wrote:
On Tue, 18 Feb 2014 23:42:00 -0500, wrote:

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

---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus
protection is active.
http://www.avast.com
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
In the late '50s, a local welding shop had two of these instead of
using bottled acetylene. One had been removed from a local church when
they changed thier lighting system over from gas to electricity. The
shop owner claimed that his cost was much lower due to much reduced
handling and transportation costs.
---

Gerry :-)}
London,Canada
Acetylene generators are fairly common in Asia, outside the big
cities. No bottle rental and calcium carbide and water are cheaper
then acetylene too :-)
A few years ago this was discussed and someone found a Swiss company
that made them still and was rather surprised. A quick search on "swiss
acetylene generator" turned up http://www.gloor.ch/pdf/P122_en.pdf .

Practically every shop that sells "welding stuff" has them for sale
here.
--
Cheers,

John B.

Acetylene generators are fairly common in Asia, outside the big
cities. No bottle rental and calcium carbide and water are cheaper
then acetylene too :-)
A few years ago this was discussed and someone found a Swiss company
that made them still and was rather surprised. A quick search on "swiss
acetylene generator" turned up http://www.gloor.ch/pdf/P122_en.pdf .

Practically every shop that sells "welding stuff" has them for sale
here.

Back in the day my grandfather had a plant manufacturing farm
implements. I was only there a couple of times before it went under c.
early 60's.

Anyway, he had 3 or 4 calcium carbide acetylene generators in/around the
welding area.

Erik

technomaNge wrote:


My 2 ¢ (when did they take the "cent" sign off keyboards?)

It's in the Character Map program in Windows: Four rows down from '1"


--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.