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).
Experimental work on improving car cooling systems, focusing on radiator tube designs.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 182\M19\ img227 | |
| Date | 2nd September 1931 | |
| To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. A.{Mr Adams} Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. Ry. PN.{Mr Northey} ORIGINAL. Hel/AD2.9.31. x.766. x.7250. P.II. COOLING. During the last 12 months a lot of experimental work has been done to improve the cooling but we agree very little of it has got through on to the cars we are selling to customers. The first improvement was adding dents to the existing standard tubes. This gave us a definite increase in cooling but it is only just being fitted to P.2 cars. We understand that about 15 right-hand P.2 cars have been sent away with this type of radiator. Your car 58-GN has the old standard type without dents. All the L.H. cars have been fitted with radiator tubes with dents. We took this precaution because we realised we should have complaints and they would be difficult to deal with being so far away. After the tests on the standard tubes you will remember we went through a whole series of tests with radiators made of square tubes of various designs. These showed up to be an improvement but at an increased cost and weight. In the meantime I brought back from U.S.A. sufficient tubes of the copper dented hexagon ended type which were built up into radiators and tests showed them to be the most efficient type of tube we have tested. Apart from this, the fact that they are produced in copper should reduce our corrosion troubles which are quite serious with brass tubes. The point then arose that it was not practical to import these tubes from U.S.A. We had to persuade the makers on this side to produce this type of tube. The position now is that we have received satisfactory supplies from Kynoche. We have run tests in France on 25-EX also bump tests and we are in a position to adopt the copper dented hexagon ended tube. We did, in our memo He9/MJ18.7.31, recommend that we should use the large diameter tubes but it would appear from Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}'s and PN{Mr Northey}'s notes that we ought to go to the small tube because when we have given them the very | ||