Sidmouth Seafront Lantern - Restoration

I started by removing the existing gear from the lantern; all was covered in dried rust-coloured water. The ignitor must still have had some water in it as little droplets kept appearing as the component was moved around.

I removed the minicell next, though this wasn't as easy as it may sound, as the locknut had fused to the metal and wouldn't move. However, the cork gaskets beneath had perished and I was, therefore, able to remove them and squeeze a hacksaw in-between the nut and the canopy. Even then, with the locknut now removed along with the top of the detector, the cell still didn't want to move, and so I had to drill out the remainder of the shaft using a 20 mm holesaw. The rest of the cell then came away easily. I also used the holesaw to clear out the silicone which had been put in the top-entry spigot - this dropped out in one go. The cell casing was also full of water, meaning that a few drainage holes were drilled into it - this wasn't very successful; therefore, I decided to break open the casing. The tough flame-retardant plastic put up a good fight but in the end I managed to make a fair-sized hole in the top. The capacitor had broken off the circuit board already, and was looking a bit burnt at one end - this cell was unlikely to work again!

The next big challenge was getting into the bowl - just how do you work on a lantern which has a sealed optic (of sorts)? Well, I managed to cut away at the sealant and then levered the reflector off. The reflector is the same as the one which is used in a Philips SGS 203 - although it has been modified somewhat, in order to fit in the Sidmouth lantern - notice that the aluminium has been cut in quite a crude way - the cut lines from the reflectors made from the same pressing can be seen on either side. I believe that Metcraft Lighting used this reflector in many of their lanterns, leading me to believe that they produced these as bespoke products.

This is what was left when the gear, cell and reflector had been removed - not much left! The gear tray / reflector is also sealed against the bowl.

The bowl is actually made up of four pieces of plastic, which have then been sealed at the joints.

Looking the other way - and yes, the canopy was closed when this photograph was taken..!

The restoration may continue one day; for now, click here to return to the lantern's main page.

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