Meters can always be had stamped with the seal of a local authority or
other body having duly appointed inspectors under the Sales of Gas Act,
and the presence of such a stamp on a meter implies that it has been
officially examined and found to register quantities accurately, or not
varying beyond 2 per cent. in favour of the seller, or 3 per cent, in
favour of the consumer. [Footnote: It may be remarked that when a meter--
wet or dry--begins to register incorrectly by reason of old age or want
of adjustment, its error is very often in the direction that benefits the
customer, _i.e._, more gas passes through it than the dials record.]
Hence a "stamped" meter may be regarded for practical purposes as
affording a correct register of the quantities of gas passing through it.
Except that the use of unalloyed copper in any part of the meter where it
may come in contact with the gas must be wholly avoided, for the reason
that copper is inadmissible in acetylene apparatus (_see_ Chapter
VI.), the meters ordinarily employed for coal-gas serve quite well for
acetylene. Obviously, however, since so very much less acetylene than
coal-gas is consumed per burner, comparatively small meters only will be
required even for large installations of acetylene lighting.
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