Urbis ZXU1

The successor to the ZX1 entered the collection on Monday, 1st September 2008. Again, this lantern is brand new and unused. The main difference between this lantern and the ZX1 is that the new lantern can be mounted directly to a column spigot rather than having an adaptor fitted into the side-entry spigot. The ZXU1 is not used in Derbyshire, however it does see considerable use across the border in Nottinghamshire.

If you position your mouse cursor over the highlighted photographs, the image will change for the equivalent one showing the ZX1 (the precursor to this lantern) in my collection - in this way, both lanterns can be compared.

From above, there is no difference between the two canopy designs, especially as neither example is fitted with a NEMA socket!

With the ZXU1 looked at from the side, the differences still do not immediately become clear. This lantern is fitted with a refractor bowl - a feature available for several Urbis lanterns, including the ZX1.

Only when the lanterns are viewed from underneath do the differences start becoming apparent. The rear section of the chassis has been redesigned to allow the lantern to be spigot mounted directly, instead of an adaptor being required for this method of installation, as with the ZX1. The lantern can be mounted side-entry or post-top thanks to a hinged 'trapdoor' containing the two grub screws. The lantern bears a slight resemblance to American 'Cobrahead' lanterns in this view.

The two lanterns are similar on the inside, although several differences exist between the two. Firstly, the ZXU1 is fitted with a Harvard electronic gear unit (as with the Urbis Sapphire 1 in my collection), whereas the ZX1 is fitted with standard gear. Also of note is that the cable entry is now made of a single piece of rubber, allowing for a good seal to be made around the cable. The all-aluminium reflector of the ZX1 is replaced with a moulded plastic reflector (with the inside sprayed silver) in the ZXU1.

The lantern was mounted to an AC Ford AC872 wall bracket on Saturday, 9th May 2009. Accommodating the lantern on the narrow 34 mm bracket proved quite difficult as a result of the design being more suited to wider diameter brackets.

The moulded refractors create an interesting pattern from the light output.

Lantern warm-up video:

Testing the fitting with my energy monitoring device revealed the following results:

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