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The unusual object by my grilling shed

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FarmerTom
FarmerTom Posts: 685
in Off Topic
In a separate post I had asked readers if anyone could guess what an object in our backyard might be.  If you're interested, here it is, the buried cylinder in front of my ATV.

And here's the answer:

Our old house at one time had carbide gas lights. Perhaps a stove as well.  (There's the BBQ connection for the purists)   Long before my time, but we saw evidence of the holes bored in joists for the piping runs though the piping is no longer there.  There are some fixtures in our meat house that I assume were once gas lights in the house.  Only have the tubing and burners, no globes on them.

This is looking into the pit with the carbide reservoir removed.  

I'm guessing this held the carbide.  When doing some grade work for the grilling shed, we hooked into, and tore out some of the line going into the house.  We though it was buried deeper but it was only about  6" deep.  So that's it.  If anyone knows anything about these, I would appreciate any info.  I have no intention of trying to make it operational bur would be interested in knowing how it worked.  I'm familiar with small carbide lights as I have one I used many years ago when I did a little spelunking.  But this is much different.  The label says it could hold 200 lbs of carbide and operate 200-6" burners.  Well that's all folks.   Thanks for your interest.   

Tommy 

Middle of Nowhere, Northern Kentucky
   1 M, 1 XL, a BlackStone,1 old Webber, a Border Collie, a German Shepherd and 3 of her pups, and 2 Yorkies

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Comments

  • SciAggie
    SciAggie Posts: 6,481
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    That’s interesting. I’ve never seen that for a house - man what a fire hazard...
    A friend of mine had an old carbide generator that was used along with an oxygen bottle for a cutting torch. It was no longer functional, but really cool to look at. 
    Coleman, Texas
    Large BGE & Mini Max for the wok. A few old camp Dutch ovens and a wood fired oven. LSG 24” cabinet offset smoker. There are a few paella pans and a Patagonia cross in the barn. A curing chamber for bacterial transformation of meats...
    "Bourbon slushies. Sure you can cook on the BGE without them, but why would you?"
                                                                                                                          YukonRon
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  • Kayak
    Kayak Posts: 700
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    The calcium carbide was bought from Union Carbide, and mixed with water to produce Acetylene. Under low pressure it was probably pretty safe, but keeping the generator away from the house seems like good practice. There is a big one in the Adirondack Experience museum in NY.

    https://poststar.com/lifestyles/before-electricity-some-had-acetylene/article_a13c0de5-f821-58e5-af21-8f87a87a88db.html

    Bob

    New Cumberland, PA
    XL with the usual accessories

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  • rifrench
    rifrench Posts: 469
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    Interesting home accessory, a touch of history!
     1 LBGE, 1 SBGE, 1 KBQ and a 26" Blackstone near Blackstone, Virginia
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  • OhioEgger
    OhioEgger Posts: 903
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    Fascinating. Never heard of that used in a house, although I used one of the old carbide miner's lamps on my helmet for spelunking back in the day. I still have mine too!
    Also had a little toy carbide cannon that made quite a bang.
    Cincinnati, Ohio. Large BGE since 2011. Still learning.
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  • dmchicago
    dmchicago Posts: 4,516
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    Very cool. 
    Philly - Kansas City - Houston - Cincinnati - Dallas - Houston - Memphis - Austin - Chicago - Austin

    Large BGE. OONI 16, TOTO Washlet S550e (Now with enhanced Motherly Hugs!)

    "If I wanted my balls washed, I'd go to the golf course!"
    Dennis - Austin,TX
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  • thetrim
    thetrim Posts: 11,357
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    That’s really kewl. 
    =======================================
    XL 6/06, Mini 6/12, L 10/12, Mini #2 12/14 MiniMax 3/16 Large #2 11/20 Legacy from my FIL - RIP
    Tampa Bay, FL
    EIB 6 Oct 95
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