Railroad Lantern Upgrade and Restoration

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 2.14.46 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 2.14.38 PM.png

This is an old railway lantern from 1976 that was found on a dump. I decided to restore it and upgrade.

Step 1: Disassembling

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 11.52.19 AM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 11.53.16 AM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 11.53.39 AM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 11.54.10 AM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 11.54.45 AM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 12.10.10 PM.png

The first step of this project was disassembling. All bolts were rusty so I've applied wd-40 in advance.

One of the bolts could not be unscrewed, so I cut it off with a dremmel and diamond circle.

Both switches had broken terminals, one on them was broken apart. I've tried to repair the terminals but had broken one of them. I've replaced it with a new one. The second switch was repaired successfully.

Step 2: Battery Testing

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 12.14.55 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.03.01 PM.png

I have tested the battery with a voltmeter. The battery were dead. They were dry and oxidised.

Step 3: Washing

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.10.50 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.13.06 PM.png

After all parts were disassembled I have washed them with a soapy water and a brush.

Step 4: Chemical Rust Removing

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.14.51 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.14.30 PM.png

I have applied a chemical rust remover.

Step 5: Sanding

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.25.22 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.24.50 PM.png

The rust was quite deep and chemical rust remover did not work well. I decided to sand it.

Step 6: Battery Replacement

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.44.21 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.43.16 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.43.05 PM.png

The batteries that were installed in the lantern were very old and not functional. I didn't found a new replacement so I used batteries from a laptop. That was Apple Macbook Air batteries.

I have disassembled the package an checked the battery units. They had identical voltage so I soldered them in parallel.

I also had a circuit board from a power bank so I connected it all together.

Step 7: Light Bulb to Led Conversion

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.49.32 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.49.23 PM.png

This lantern had two small lightbulbs one of them was dead. I didn't find a replacement so I made a led bulb from a piece of led stripe.

Step 8: Painting

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.57.05 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.56.12 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.55.50 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 1.57.47 PM.png

The surface of the lantern was is bad condition. I have applied putty, sanded it then applied a primer and wet sand it also. After that I have painted the lantern with a spray paint.

Step 9: Electric Parts Assembling and Fire

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 2.04.11 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 2.03.44 PM.png

When all electric components were ready I started to assembly all together. During this process I touched the bare wire of the case and got short circuit. There was a lot of smoke I was scared that the lithium-ion batteries caught fire. Luckily everything worked out, no one was hurt nothing burned.

Sep 10: Final Result

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 2.08.46 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-21 at 2.08.30 PM.png

This project took me almost 3 weeks. In my region it was the hottest time of the summer so far. I was very tired but happy.