Sometimes the holder surrounds,
or is otherwise an integral part of, the decomposing chamber, the whole
apparatus being made self-contained or a single structure with the object
of gaining compactness. But it is evident that such methods of
construction render additionally awkward, or even hazardous, any repair
or petty operation to the generating portion of the plant; while the more
completely the holder is isolated from the decomposing vessels the more
easily can they be cleaned, recharged, or mended, without blowing off the
stored gas and without interfering with the action of any burners that
may be alight at the time. Owing to the ingenuity of inventors, and the
experience they have acquired in the construction of automatic acetylene
apparatus during the years that the gas has been in actual employment, it
is going too far boldly to assert that non-automatic generators are
invariably to be preferred before their rivals. Still in view of the
nature of the labour which is likely to be bestowed on any domestic
plant, of the difficulty in having repairs or adjustments done quickly in
outlying country districts, and of the inconvenience, if not risk,
attending upon any failure of the apparatus, the greater capital outlay,
and the larger space required by non-automatic generators are in most
instances less important than the economy in space and prime cost
characteristic of automatic machines when the defects of each are weighed
fairly in the balance.
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