My Collection: Thorn Beta 4

The Thorn Beta 4 was an unusual top-entry lantern designed for use with 60W-200W GLS or 80W-125W MBF/U lamps. The lantern's small size meant there was no room for a gear (or really anything other than the lamp). This one ran a 160W self-ballasted mercury (ML) lamp when in service, having been used on an industrial building. It was purchased from an antiques store for dirt-cheap.

Notice the unusual industrial bracket. The cable was previously Crompton Electric Cable 600/1000V BASEC. Unfortunately the original cable could not be saved and had to be removed.

From it's years running 160W ML, the bowl is horrendously yellowed, although it looks worse on camera.

Access to the lamp is gained via a small clip on the side of the Beta 4.

The inside cleaned up well, and was re-wired by yours truly. Sadly the lamp had burned-out, but this was expected as it came down for a reason!

A new lamp-holder had to be installed due to rusting around the wire-connectors. I picked one that was as-close to the original as I could get.

My first thought upon seeing the bowl was "that's some thick polycarbonate", until I realised that the refractor was actually a ring that sits in the bowl.

The removal of this refractor made for quite a comical sight on the bowl:

As I currently have no working ES 160W ML lamps, the lantern runs 40W GLS for now.