io8 MARINE I.IGHTING EQUIPMENT OF THE PANAMA CANAL. 



A shut-oflf valve is conveniently located in the pipe line which runs up 

 one leg of the lantern tower ; this valve, as well as all other high-pressure 

 valves used, are diaphragm- valves of an entirely new construction which 

 precludes any possibility of gas leaking around the valve spindle. 



The joints of the high-pressure piping are of special construction, excep- 

 tionally reliable and easily connected or disconnected. 



In the base of the lantern where the high-pressure piping joins the 

 governor, a special valve, 32, is employed (see Plate 49). This valve is pro- 

 vided with a connection to take the pressure gauge when reading the pressure 

 in the accumulators. From this valve 32, the pipe 45 within the lantern 

 base carries a filter F-500, which prevents any possibility of foreign matter 

 entering the governor or flasher. 



THE FLASHER. 



An entirely new principle in flashers permits the production of as 

 many as 55,000 separate and distinct flashes from one cubic foot of acety- 

 lene. Older types of apparatus could not produce more than 1,400 flashes 

 from the same quantity of gas. The new flasher may be adjusted to give 

 light periods of any desired length of time down to one- tenth of a second, 

 or less, alternating with dark intervals of any desired length. Single, 

 double or triple flashes, etc., can be produced with ease; in fact any light 

 character obtainable in lighthouses equipped with the most modern lens 

 arrangements can be produced by the new flasher. 



For lighting the gas as it flows out of the burner during the light periods, 

 a special pilot burner is used (see Plate 51). This continuously burning pilot 

 flame consumes only one-seventy-fifth of a cubic foot of gas an hour, or 

 about one-third of a cubic foot per day, as compared with 6 cubic feet per 

 day in older acetylene flashers. 



The modus operandi of the new flasher may be described as follows : — 

 The gas issuing from the governor passes into the flasher B, through a valve 

 which remains open during the whole dark interval (see sectional view, 

 Plate 52). When a certain predetermined quantity of gas has flowed through 

 the pipe into the flasher, so that the flexible leather diaphragm is at the 

 top of its stroke, the inlet valve instantaneously closes, and simultaneously 

 the outlet valve to the main burner opens, allowing the accumulated gas to 

 pass through the pipe to the main burner where it is ignited by the con- 

 stantly burning pilot flame. The pilot flame is fed through the by-pass 

 direct from the governor. 



The valve lever is magnetized so as to always maintain a tight joint 



