GEC Z5698U
This lantern was the one and only lantern that got removed in my presence during my work experience with Derby City Council's street lighting department. I was working with Jeremy (someone I only thought that I'd know for the duration of the work experience week - which obviously was not the case as things turned out!) on Wednesday, 14th May 2003, and one of the job sheets we had was to repair this particular lantern - it had been reported as being unlit. We went up to have a look and soon noticed that the lantern had a few cracks in the bowl, and was showing signs of water ingress, so the decision was made to replace it. Being a post top lantern, there was a limitation as to the sort of replacement lantern we could use - really, the only other post top lantern used regularly in the Derbyshire area is the Thorn Gamma 6, and we didn't have any in stock at the time, so a small outreach bracket was attached to the column, and a Thorn Beta 5 was fitted. Using this lantern probably actually improved lighting levels along the road - post tops tend to spread more of the light at the height at which the lantern is mounted.
I decided to keep this lantern, as it has always been one of my favourite lantern types, namely because such lanterns were used on a footpath behind the house that I lived in when I was young - and as luck would have it, my bedroom was on the back of the house, and you couldn't look out of the window without seeing at least one Z5698U! I loved watching the lamp warming up, and often wondered why the lights at home did not do the same! I also wondered how the lantern switched on/off every day, but I seem to remember the 'light sensor' principle being explained to me very early on! I reckon that this lantern was the main reason for my interest in street lighting today.
Shortly before we moved to the present house, the lantern was changed for a Gamma 6 - what a pity I didn't collect back then!
The lantern as received - this is actually a reasonable example - most in the area are in need of a good clean. This lantern is not fitted with a NEMA socket as it was group switched off another one down the road. The bowl is yellowed, but not as badly as it appears in the photograph - the SGS 204 was on when I took the picture.
As with the Z5670, the bowl on this lantern can only be removed by first of all removing the canopy. When new, the two wires going up to the lamp would have been secured to the support poles with cable ties. The gear is all mounted in the base of the lantern, under the white reflector plate.
This is said gear - the Z1616 ballast shown here is a replacement - the original Z1616 stopped working in May 2004.
The lantern's canopy was heavily covered in fingerprints due to the grease from fingers reacting with the paint - this seems to happen to spray painted surfaces if they are continuously left outside for long periods of time.
Looking into the canopy shows the hinge mechanism - the internal rim stays fastened to the lantern; the outer section hinges through 180 degrees.
A slightly blurred shot of the bowl - the reason for its length is that the Z5698U is actually meant to run a 55w lamp, and indeed many were when first installed around Derby in the early 1980s.
Despite the yellowing on the bowl, the lamp can still be seen inside. Had this been a SON or mercury fitting, this would not be possible. The vertical refractors on the bowl do a good job of diffusing the light outwards and downwards.
Very little work needed to be done on the lantern to get it looking something like it must have done when new - the only thing that could not be sorted was the bowl's yellowing, but as can be seen here, it is not too bad.
A replacement bowl was found (Thanks to fellow collector Simon Brown!) and duly fitted on Sunday, 7th September 2008. The bowl is much clearer than the original, although it still appears to be slightly yellowed in the picture below...this is simply due to the yellow walls in the lantern room!
I did not get any pictures of the lantern before removal; so this is actually a combination of two pictures - the first being of the column with Beta 5 replacement (which can be seen below), and the second being of another Z5698U nearby. Both pictures were taken within a few minutes of each other; so that the sun would appear in the same position for both.
The Beta 5 that replaced the Z5698U. Jeremy has written the date the lamp was installed together with when the lantern was connected to make the guarantees work! (Engineers are supposed to date everything they install, so that if a fault develops or a lamp wears out before the guarantee has ended, the money for the guarantee can be retrieved. Lamps that have been vandalised do not count - and so every time a lamp is vandalised, no money can be obtained and the council has to buy new lamps.) Notice Jeremy's initials by the Beta 5 label (JPS) The other initials are those of the person who helped in the lantern's installation - me! (MB) So this lantern is half mine by rights if it's ever removed!
The lamp is a Philips 'Osram' lamp - the photograph was taken on Monday, 16th June 2003, a 'boiling' day! I can only think that the aluminium canopy would make the lamp pretty warm - if switched on, it would probably be at full power instantly!
Click here to see examples of Z5698Us in-situ.
© 2002-2008 Mike Barford