View source for Electric Lighting in Gawler

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ELECTRIC LIGHTING AT GAWLER.
GAWLER, May 30.— At the meeting of  the Town Council on Monday evening the committee appointed to consider the electric lighting scheme recommended that the following tenders be accepted:— Contract No. 1, Wm. McLean & Co., 72 B.H.P. Gardner engine and sundries, £702 10/. Contract No. 1A, Kynoch, Ltd., gas-producer plant, £177. Contract No. 2, Wm. McLean & Co., dynamo and various fittings, £739 18/6. Warburton, Franki, and Co., one set of accumulators, erected, £396 10/. British General Electric Co., one 40- kilowatt and one 20-kilowatt transformers, with regulating switches, £130 17/6. Contract No. 3, Siemens Bros., switches, items, and fuses, £12 1/. British General Electric Co., switch, ammeters, voltmeters, fuses, &c., £84 18/6. H. Rowe & Co., syncroscope. £3 4/6. Wm. McLean & Co., service meters, £151 15/. Contract No. 4, supply of poles to remain in abeyance. Contract No. 5. Wm. McLean & Co., aluminium cables, £225. The committee had instructed the town clerk to write to Messrs. Lincolne & McDougall, informing them that an intimation had been made to the members of the council that the alternating current system would not be the best for a small installation, and asking them to furnish the council with their opinion of this matter. The recommendations were adopted.

'''Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 3 June 1911, page 14'''

Electric Lighting.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT.
The Gawler electric light plant consists of one 75-h.p. Gardner suction gas engine direct coupled to one 45 -kilowatt double current generator. The generator supplies alternating current direct to the mains and direct current for battery charging.
Gas is supplied to the engine by a Kynoch suction gas producer, using charcoal as a fuel. There is one 600 ampere Premier storage battery, which discharges to the mains through a 20-kilowatt rotary converter, thus maintaining a supply when the engine is not running.
The supply   is controlled on a four-panel enamelled slate switchboard, from which independent feeders run to various sections of the town. The mains consist of hard drawn bare aluminium carried on jarrah poles. The system of supply being alternating current 50 cycles 200 and 400 volts.
The street lighting consists of 10 100 candlepower and 50 30 candlepower me- tallic filament lamps. These lamps are sup- plied by special mains independent from the private lighting, thus enabling the street lighting to be switched on and off as required from the power house.
The tariff is:— For lighting, 7d. per unit for the first 50 units and 3d. over : for power, 4d. per unit : meter rent     6d. per month.
The engine is of the 4-cylinder high speed type, running at 500 revolutions per minute, and is fitted with force lubrication throughout. The coupling between the engine and generator is of the leather belt type, which is specially designed to avoid any possible trouble due to want of alignment or movement of foundation.
The contractors for tbe supply of the engine, generator, rotary converter and switchboard, and for the erection of the entire equipment were Messrs. W. McLean & Co., Melbourne. The storage battery was supplied by Messrs. Warburton, Franki, & Co., Melbourne. The transformers and sundry equipment were supplied by the British General Electric Co., Melbourne ; the suction   gas producer by Kynoch Ltd., Melbourne and the poles by Cowell Bros., Ltd., Adelaide.
Other suppliers of sundry equipment were Siemen Bros. Ltd., Melbourne, and Messrs. H. Rowe & Co., Melbourne. Mr. E. G. Roberts was tbe representative of Messrs, McLean & Co. and had charge of the erection. The plant was designed by Messrs. Lincolne and MacDougall, Melbourne, and Mr. F. Thornton was the clerk of works under the instructions of the engineers and is now tbe electrician in charge. 

'''Bunyip (Gawler, SA : 1863 - 1954), Friday 30 August 1912, page 2'''



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|Sources=National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88685719, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97563346
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