MY COLLECTION: THORN Civic 1 (1)
| Manufacturer | Thorn |
| Catalogue Number (model) | Civic 1 SB N |
| Wattage | 70W |
| Lamp-Type | SON-T |
| Gear | Modified |
| Ballast | Parmar HSZ57223221 |
| Ignitor | Tridonic PXE070255 |
| IP Rating (when new) | IP65 |
| Date Of Manufacture | ~~/04/2003 |
| Date Acquired | 28/07/2023 |
| Restoration Status | Cleaned |
| Collection Number | #3 |
The Thorn Civic 1 was a wildly popular lantern throughout the UK. It could be used with lamps up to 150W, meaning it was used in a wide-range of applications (this one is a 50W SON-T lantern). It's aluminium construction made it a very heavy-duty and sturdy lantern, and two versions of the Civic 1 existed, the older design and newer design. Both can easily be distinguished from one-another, owing to the different shape and paint used. It's distinctive shape makes it an icon amongst the lighting community, and one of the most-well-known lanterns overall. This one is the older design of the Civic 1. It was the third lantern in my collection after two WRTL 2600s. It runs 70W SON-T and uses the gear from a 2600, minus the faulty capacitor.
I've always thought that these lanterns look a lot like shoes, especially from above!
The back plate can be removed by unscrewing and removing two screws. On the underside is an April 2003 date-code.
It could do with a re-wire, as I did this over a year ago now, so that's a plan for the future. It's quite a noisy lantern, the Parmar ballasts are especially loud! Incase you're wondering, the ballast is a Parmar HSZ57223221. Its old ballast was a Tridonic OMBS 70.
The lantern pictured working for the first time after it entered the collection (in 2023).
The lantern doesn't use a photocell as I bypassed it. It has a Parmar PXE070255 Ignitor.
