GE  Anti-Aircraft 60\" Arc Search Light, Model 1941 For Sale

GE  Anti-Aircraft 60\
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GE  Anti-Aircraft 60\" Arc Search Light, Model 1941:
$9570.00

General Electric (GE) WW-II Anti-Aircraft Arc Search Light, Model 1941 (see picture)

This was purchased by Military Museum earlier this year. The museum is in process of raising money forother items and this is being sold. Museum had item brought up from Texas via U-ship carrier which worked out very well, since we could not do local pick-up

Info from original seller:

The original generator runs beautifully and the fuel systems has recently be gone though. Two new fuel pumps installed, one electric and we rebuilt the original mechanically. The fuel tank was dropped and cleaned and the carburetor was cleaned. The trailer has four brand new tires and l.e.d lights. The light comes with a supple of extra positive and negative carbon rods.

“Few peopler ealize that all 60 inch Carbon Arc Searchlights are all 60 years old or older. Ten thousand were made, mostly ending up in Europe for WWII. One guess puts the surviving number at about 2500 worldwide, but a recent survey taken in 2004, indicates that this number is more likely in the hundreds.Having been stored out in the elements for over 60 years has taken its toll most of them.
These lights were built by the General Electric, and Sperry Gyroscope for the U.S. Military as Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Units.Their original purpose was to aide World War II anti-aircraft gunnery crews in spotting enemy aircraft during night-time air attacks. These lights have not been built since 1944.”

Carbon Arc Searchlight Facts:

Searchlights were produced for the military from 1932 to1944 by Sperry and General Electric at a cost of $60,000 each! The searchlights cost $60,000 in 1940. Using inflation figures from 1940 to 2005 - that is equivalent to $830,000 in 2005 -no wonder they are such a magnificent piece of machinery!

Light Source: 1 inch Carbon Arc (no light bulb!)
Candle Power: 800,000,000 (800 million)
Effective Beam length: 5.6 miles
Effective Beam visibility: 28~35 miles
Glass Weight Totals: 75 lbs
Brass Rhodium Coated Mirror: 165 lbs

GENERATOR: Generator Power: 15 KWV nominal - 16.7 KWV max. (15,000~16,700 watts D.C.)
Powered By: In line 6 cyl. \"Hercules\" Flathead Engine
Generator Engine Fuel: Gasoline (can also be run using Kerosene or Gasohol) 26gallons
Generator Fuel Consumption: 2.6 Gal per hour
Combined Weight: 6,000 pounds (3 tons, or the weight of 3 Ford Mustangscombined!)

Light Source:
The Beam is made by 2 carbon rods, one positive and one negative, arching within the focal point of a 60 inch
parabolic mirror. The actual light source is only 1 inch in diameter at the tipof the positive carbon. It is then magnified by the mirror. As the rods \"burn\" they are automatically fed into the arc. The rods last approximately 2 hours and then are replaced. The flame that is visible during the lights operation, is not actually the source of the light, rather, it is a by-product, produced as a result of the electricity arching between the 2 rods.The flame is the rod slowly burning away as it is fed into the light. The arc draws 150 amps continuously at 78 volts DC, and burns at over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The power is supplied by the D.C. generator which was designed specifically for this purpose.



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