 |  |
Flashing Apparatus
| In early attempts to use acetylene as a source of light in lighthouse technology it was found that the gas functioned perfectly but that operation became too expensive. In 1905 the Pilotage Service’s senior engineer John Höjer drew the attention of AGA’s consulting engineer Gustaf Dalén to this problem. | 
. |
| If he could design a light which used little gas and gave the light character, it would be economically feasible to use acetylene. "The light flash can be a short as you like" as Höjer put it. After months of experimenting Gustaf Dalén finally could present the flashing apparatus which was installed in one lighthouse after another. The cleverly designed flashing apparatus can divide a liter of acetylene gas into 10,000 small flashes of light. This means that a lot of gas is saved, that one accumulator lasts many times longer than if the lighthouse shines all the time. The flashing apparatus can provide 1 flash, 2 flashes or 3 flashes at precisely the desired intervals, In a 1-flash lighthouse for example you can have light for 0.3 seconds and darkness for 2.7 seconds. Then the flame is only alight for 1/10 of the time for the whole period, which saves a considerable amount of gas. Within a few years the patented flashing apparatus was used in a line of AGA inventions including railway signals. |
|
|
|
|
| |