Pest-o-lite tank and regulator F/S

[Layden Butler]

Small size 4" diameter motorcycle tank great for under the seat and still have your stock generator on the running board, includes regulator and flow control. $195, domestic shipping $28.

[Linus Tremaine]

My 1920s auto camp book suggests the prestolite tank combined with some type of arc lamp was the best light for your camp. It was also a good source of gas for your cook stove. What would you do with this tank on a model T? Early cars had their own gas generator. Was this to replace that?
sorry I am dumb, I dont actually own a model T but I love this group and everything that is going on.

[Wayne Sheldon]

Hey there Linus. Many early automobiles as you know used acetylene gas headlamps. And as you said, many of them had carbide to acetylene gas generators. Such lamps began on automobiles slightly before 1900, and actually went back several decades for other applications (including miner's lamps). However, the process of mixing calcium carbide and water to create acetylene gas is quite messy, and leaves caustic residue that if not thoroughly cleaned up in a timely manner damages the gas generator. A couple of business men entrepreneurs developed a system to produce and bottle acetylene gas in steel tanks that could be exchanged and conveniently refilled. No muss, no fuss, no caustic mess to clean, and relatively speaking, fairly safe. They went on the market (if I recall correctly?) 1906 or 1907. The men had already been successful in other ventures, but this was their big one! They made millions! Literally! The tank system was very popular, and within a year or so, many automobile manufacturers offered the Prest-O-Lite as a factory option. Even Ford, well known for wanting everything HIS way and in-house, offered the Prest-O-Lite tanks as an option on the model T.
After 1912, when the first practical electric lighting system was offered for automobiles, use and demand for the automobile tanks began to drop. But it continued to be quite profitable for years to come. Many people were slow to accept the new technology, many cars offered both lighting systems as an option for a few years, and some trucks had acetylene lamps even into the late '20s. As use of acetylene for automobile lighting dropped, gas welding and brazing became more common. In some states (NOT Califunny!), Prest-O-Lite automobile tanks can still be found in welding supply shops, tanks with offset valve bodies (necessary to lay down on an automobile running board and work properly), maybe as much as 80 years old, still in use.

The other important historic connection. The men made so much money, so fast after introducing the system, that they invested in another venture. They bought the land, and built the Indianapolis Speedway. The first few races took place on a crudely Unfinished dirt oval in 1909. In 1911, the first real Indy 500 took place. And continues still.

[Linus Tremaine]

well that was about as detailed an answer as I could have ever gotten. Thanks wayne. I have wanted to get one of these tanks and set it up with an early camp lamp for my auto camp display but I dont know what type of lamp to get or where I may ever even find one. I didnt know I would be competing with model t owners to get the tank though.