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).
The poor performance and failures of Chloride batteries on experimental cars.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\E\September1920\ Scan29 | |
| Date | 1st September 1920 | |
| [Header] To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} C. to CJ. [crossed out] C. to BN.{W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington} [crossed out] C. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} [crossed out] C. to Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} [crossed out] C. to EH. [crossed out] C. to PN.{Mr Northey} [crossed out] [Stamp: 4 EX ORIGINAL.] [Stamp: RECEIVED SEP 2] [Handwritten top right: 28] Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}1/LG2. 9. 20. [Handwritten margin notes] X.664 [crossed out] X.607 [crossed out] BATTERIES ON EXPERIMENTAL CARS. The record of Chloride batteries on Experimental Cars has not been very good. We have had one battery fail on 1.EX Car, another battery has failed on 2.EX Car, two batteries have failed on 49-GB Car. Another battery which has run on 4.EX is in rather a poor condition. We have not had a Chloride battery which has run 10,000 miles and been in a good condition. The failures we have had have been due to:- 1. Faulty internal connections. 2. Separators wearing. 3. Positive plates falling to pieces. The batteries are well looked after; one of Mr. Clarks' assistants inspects them every two or three days. We recognise that they have been over-charged but that is only the treatment they will get when in customers hands. [Handwritten margin notes] X.2676 [crossed out] X.1198 [crossed out] We have had more failures on the post-war cars with Chloride batteries than we had before the war when we used the Lucas or C.A.V. Before the war we had four or five cars running continuously and all of them were fitted with dynamos. The batteries received less attention then than they do now but we never had any absolute failures, for instance, we have a Lucas battery on 7.CACar; it has been on the car for (Contd). [Footer text] E.M.R. 5297 (100 L) (2 of 642 18-5-20) 2912 | ||