My Collection: WRTL 2600 (7)

The WRTL 2600 was a wildly popular lantern in the 1990s to the early 2010s. It was made with the idea that it could accept any lamp or gear, hence the vast array of screw-holes in the gear-tray. It's angular and bulky appearance makes it extremely easy to identify, as it is somewhat-of-an outlier. It is most commonly seen running 50W and 70W SON, this one being a 70W SON-T example. The canopy is made from GRP (fibreglass) with the bowl being made of polycarbonate. This one proved-to-be a difficult removal, a sledgehammer had to be used to remove it. Due to this, the bowl was smashed and canopy was damaged towards the spigot. From this angle, nothing seems amiss, minus the tired-looking canopy.

But once you take a look at the other side... Ouch!

The canopy of the lantern needed a scrub to remove the loose fibres and lichen.

Much better! There was still some muck, but it was a lot cleaner. A new bowl was also fitted.

The typical WRTL NEMA socket was spotted on top. This had to be disconnected as the photocell wiring kept snapping or coming out of the terminals.

The photocell is dated to March 2014, indicating it was a replacement cell as the rest of the lantern dates back to 1999.

A closer-look at the 70W SON-T lamp.

The gear is in good-nick for it's age.

The capacitor is marked with an August 1999 date code.

A Parmar HSZ572232 ballast is fitted within the gear. This seems to be standard for SON 2600s dating back to the late 1990s/early 2000s, being that most of my others have this same model of ballast.

To complete the gear: a Parmar PXV070255 ignitor.

The lantern was powered on shortly after, and after a slightly-sputtery start, the arc tube stabilized and the lamp warmed up.