Skip to main content

Story: Lighthouses

Replacing gas cylinders

Video file

From 1913 the Marine Department began to install automatic acetylene burners as the light source in lighthouses. These could be turned on and off by an automatic sun valve. However, people were required to replace the gas cylinders. This video clip shows men changing the cylinders of the light beacon at Jackson Reef lighthouse, off Cape Jackson in Cook Strait.

Using this item

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Pictorial Parade 138

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Helen Beaglehole, Lighthouses – Lights: from oil to electricity, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/6677/replacing-gas-cylinders (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Helen Beaglehole, published 2 March 2009.