Customer's letter about a thermostat bellows, discussing its performance, fuel consumption, and suggesting modifications.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 78\1\ scan0134 | |
| Date | 15th April 1923 | |
| Page 1 (Right Side): STATION-KINGSWOOD, S.E. & C.RY. TELEPHONE-BURGH HEATH 344. TELEGRAMS-OAKROYD, TADWORTH. OAK ROYD, KINGSWOOD, TADWORTH, SURREY. 15th April. 1923. Messrs Rolls-Royce Ltd. Derby. For Col Haskin's kind attention, Dear Sirs, I am sending you under separate cover the thermostat bellows which I have had in use in my 110.B.W. It was simpler to send you this one and to retain the one you kindly handed to me. I did not get the latter quite right the first time - not yet having perfected the technique - & got some air in it, with the result that it is sluggish and does not open quite full. However I will get it right next week end. The bellows I am sending you contains about 1 c.c. of water & was sealed up with the water boiling & the bellows cramped up Page 2 (Left Side): higher horse power. If you try these bellows, please be careful not to bend the filling tube near its attachment. It has been bent there so often that I fear it may crystallise. The thermostat as supplied new functions at 71°C. & I tried many liquids before, after much discussion, my brother suggested water. My petrol consumption improved about 1 1/2 mpg. With the engine idling in neutral/about 1/4 gall of petrol is necessary to raise the engine temperature from cold - 10°C - to 91°C. As regards thermostatic control in general, the following is a mad idea which might possibly be of interest. Apart from two things, namely the greater bulk of water that has to be heated at starting, & the lack of a reserve of cool water, the radiator shutter is probably the better than the bypass arrangement. But when the shutter is controlled by a thermostat and the engine is stopped, the hottest water collects round the bellows, the shutter remains open & the bulk of the water | ||
From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).