Question about "Carbide" Hole???

[Nette]

The family was sitting around talking about old-times the other night, and DH was reminded of a memory about a hole in the backyard with a lid on it, and he remembers being told it was for carbide. As a child, when he questioned his father about the hole, he was told that all he needed to know about it was to stay away from it. Does anyone know what this could have been, or how it might have been used on the farm?

[Windy in Kansas]

Carbide put into water creates a gas which was burned for lighting. Early day automobiles had carbide headlamps. Many miner's lamp use carbide for light. Some welders use carbide generators to supply acetylene gas for their cutting torches.

Calcium carbide and water produce acetylene gas.

[farminghandyman]

it was an acetylene generator,

they had a tank inside a tank of water, and carbide was dropped into the water and acetylene would be made by the chemical reaction, and the acetylene was used much in the same way gas (propane or natural gas could be used, many times it was piped so there was gas lights on the walls and possibly a chandelier, (I have never head of it used for cooking) but it may have been, but mostly lighting. before REA, the inside tank floated and it may have also wet the carbide when it got low to make more acetylene

acetylene is a unstable gas and can explode very easly, and the explosion levels is very broad % wise, compared to many other gases,

I know of one person who has a nearly intact unit, and we had one on a old place but never really looked at it until they destroyed it in reclaiming the farmstead back for farming,

[farminghandyman]

it was an acetylene generator,

they had a tank inside a tank of water, and carbide was dropped into the water and acetylene would be made by the chemical reaction, and the acetylene was used much in the same way gas (propane or natural gas could be used, many times it was piped so there was gas lights on the walls and possibly a chandelier, (I have never head of it used for cooking) but it may have been, but mostly lighting. before REA, the inside tank floated and it may have also wet the carbide when it got low to make more acetylene

acetylene is a unstable gas and can explode very easly, and the explosion levels is very broad % wise, compared to many other gases,

I know of one person who has a nearly intact unit, and we had one on a old place but never really looked at it until they destroyed it in reclaiming the farmstead back for farming,

[THETOOLMAN]

I know hhere ther is one of those in the woods close to a old home site. It looks like a stove pipe burried straight down with a lid on it.
also i worked at the ford agency years ago... we made accetaline for our torches in the plant out back. scarry stuff.

[Quint]

You know a few years ago I went looking for a can of carbide for some lamps I had and I couldn't find the stuff anywhere. Can you even buy it anymore? I remember it use to some in a shiny steel can which contained a few pounds of the stuff.

We used it in the headlamps we sued for coon hunting when i was a growing up. Oh and of course we used it for various other things that inquisitive youngsters would use it for which involved fire and very loud noises and the occasional death of fish.

[Nette]

Thanks, everyone. I'll get my husband to read these replies. He had in idea that it was for lighting, but couldn't figure out the details. His family's homeplace is very old, and would have been there well before electricity was run to the area.

[blufford]

I had a carbide lamp that fit on a coal miners hat when I was a kid. It was really smelly. I was kind of surprised when I saw that they sold them as inside lamps.

http://www.lehmans.com/jump.jsp?item...CT&itemID=7177

[woodsrunner]

Originally Posted by Quint

You know a few years ago I went looking for a can of carbide for some lamps I had and I couldn't find the stuff anywhere. Can you even buy it anymore? I remember it use to some in a shiny steel can which contained a few pounds of the stuff.

We used it in the headlamps we sued for coon hunting when i was a growing up. Oh and of course we used it for various other things that inquisitive youngsters would use it for which involved fire and very loud noises and the occasional death of fish.

The welding supply in the next big city over had it a year ago. You might call the welding supply places. I do know the main reason it's difficult to get is the HazMat shipping required to send it anywhere.

I just yesterday read a prep book where the author mentions using calcium carbide to fumigate grain!

One spark and your corn will come ready popped! {laughing}

.....Alan.