Revo C13723/S

This lantern is better known as a Revo "Dalek", owing to the similarities in appearance of the dimply ends of the bowl resembling the front of the famous Dr Who characters. This lantern, however, will not try to exterminate you! The lantern is from Claire Pendrous, and although its previous location is not known, it is believed to have come from the west side of Wolverhampton as it hasn't been drilled for a photocell; something common to lanterns in that area.

This picture shows how cloudy the bowl now is. The Perspex used is now incredibly fragile; however, it is still in a reasonable condition, with only a couple of small holes being present. I am reminded very strongly of the Z9450 in terms of the lantern's appearance.

From above, the blanked-off top-entry connector (for the C13723/T) is visible.

The bowl dimples surround the lamp beneath and to the front and back. The lamp is still just about visible from this view, owing to the underside of the bowl not having been subjected to as much UV from sunlight as the sides have.

Opening the bowl reveals a small amount of dirt on the enamelled reflector and a collection of wasps that have gathered in the front end of the lantern. The presence of foreign bodies within the lanterns completely goes against a sentence in the catalogue stating that: "The lantern is completely weatherproof and will not permit the ingress of dust or insects". When the lantern was new, this probably was a true statement, but over time, the gasket has broken away, leaving only a small piece near the bowl hinges remaining. The reflector hinges forward, allowing access to the internal wiring. The wires going into the lampholder have been confirmed as being asbestos insulated, and so these will be replaced with modern PVC insulated wires for safety.

I cleaned the bowl and reflector on the 22nd September 2004. Notice that the lamp support has turned slightly - it will actually swivel through 360 degrees as the nuts that hold it in place had become loose over time and had then rusted solid.

This shows how clean the reflector is, as well as the lack of wasps in the canopy! The piece of gasket has been removed, revealing the canopy's original clean aluminium. Notice that the lampholder has had the wires removed now too.

On the subject of the old wires, here they are!

Here is the bowl after a thorough cleaning using fully concentrated Exodus - I've never had to use the full concentrate before but I had to here to remove the dirt from just about every dimple in the bowl, but even so, the dirt wouldn't come off without some heavy 'elbow grease'. Cleaning may have been easier if the bowl could be removed from the hinges, but it is held in place with four screws which have rusted over time. These could obviously be drilled out and replaced but due to the bowl's fragility, I decided not to try this.

This is a close-up of the now-clean dimples.

The lantern worked without a problem when connected up and switched on, after having been completely re-wired and now residing alongside my 'control point' for other lanterns. Funnily enough, above the Alpha 8 is the Z9450, one of the C13723/S' main rivals. Both lanterns are very similar in appearance; however, the Z9450 has a deeper, less curved bowl and the reflector hinges sideways, instead of forwards.

Test Voltage (V)	Current being drawn at full power (A)	Measured wattage (W)	Apparent Power (VA)	Frequency (Hz)	Power Factor	True Power (W)	Difference to rated wattage	Percentage Difference
242.4	0.6	123	145	49.9	0.82	119.26	29.26	33%