AC Ford AC 850

Lantern acquired in March 2006.

The range of lanterns made by AC Ford has always been quite small, and at the time of writing it only consists three lanterns - the 850, the 888 (which is the top-entry version of the 850), and the 730. The 850 is a gear-in-head lantern which is surprising as it is quite small and compact. Despite this, it is not a particularly common lantern, probably due to larger manufacturers being called upon by lighting contractors when new lanterns are ordered.

The ballast is dated to 1997, which is probably the year that the lantern was manufactured as well. The bowl is slightly yellowed due to UV emissions from the lamp and sunlight, but at the moment it is only a slight tinge. The NEMA socket was probably factory-fitted, but it was clearly never part of the original lantern design otherwise the canopy would have a flat section on top for it to be mounted to.

The metallic paint on the canopy is flaking off in great clumps - it must be due to the aluminium construction of the lantern heating up after the lamp has been lit for a while!

The bowl is secured inside a metal rim. The refractors are thicker than those used on the GEC Z8896, a similar lantern.

The lantern comprises two internal sections - the lower section being used for the bracket, cable entry and lamp; and...

...the top section, comprising of the gear and NEMA socket. This is held in place with four screws. The paint is flaking the worst on the inside of the canopy, but oddly the finish looks brand new on the surface below the gear.

Restoration of the lantern took place on Friday, 7th April 2006. Following the restoration, the lantern was fitted to a wall bracket - as shown in the following pictures:

Owing to the flaking paint, I decided to start from scratch - what remained of the original paint was removed. I used a similar metallic colour as the replacement - this being Hammerite silver-grey, with a 'Hammered' finish. The NEMA socket was not required and was wired out of the circuit; however it was left in place in case I decided to reconnect it at a later date.

The white paint above the lamp also received attention as this had become discoloured from the heat emitted over the years. Once the paint had dried, I decided to fit new seals around the different sections - the existing ones had split in a number of places and trying to keep each one on the same plane whilst it was being glued would have been difficult. I used some silicone sealant as the replacement - this would set hard and create a good seal around each rim. The existing wiring for the gear and lamp was refreshed as the insulation was starting to disintegrate. I fitted heat-resistant sleeving over the replacement wires in order to try and prevent this from happening again.

The bowl also received a thorough cleaning - so thorough in fact that some of the yellowing appeared to fade slightly. It remained on the middle of the bowl however, where the UV light had discoloured it the most.

This side view shows off the lantern's new paintwork quite well.

I powered up; and although the lamp still gave off a mercury-like colour at full power, it was very dim (it may have been the original lamp), so I swapped it for another and then a much brighter light was emitted. This photograph was taken after the swap had taken place.

A new AC850 entered my collection on Thursday, 11th May 2006 - click here to see photographs of it.