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).
Conference with the Exide Company regarding battery failures, charging issues, and supply arrangements.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 46\3\ Scan074 | |
| Date | 1st June 1922 guessed | |
| - 2 - connection with the original type of battery and how same originated, also the best method of dealing with the issue. The result of the Conference was that the Exide Company clearly demonstrated that a large percentage of the troubles they had to deal with were the result of insufficient and faulty charging in the first instance. On our part, we were able to show that the method of separating the plates could be improved as we had several instances of batteries which had failed due to the plates buckling and in doing so pinching right through or squeezing up the wood separators until contact was made between the positive and negative plates, causing complete failure of the cell in consequence. In the meantime we had previously arranged for the various modifications detailed above to be incorporated and an arrangement was arrived at by which when a battery failed it should be at once replaced by a further battery. The faulty battery was then examined by a representative of each Company and if they were unable to decide whose liability the trouble represented, EFC's opinion was to be accepted as final by the two Companies. At the same Conference, in view of the recognised importance of charging, both from Exide as well as our own point of view, a further arrangement was arrived at by which we should supply no more uncharged batteries but should return all we held in stock to the Exide Company who then undertook, on a special scheme which has all been clearly explained to Sales, to supply fully charged batteries to any coachbuilders upon receipt of an instruction to this effect from ourselves, the instruction to be given so that the battery should be available immediately before the coachbuilders were ready to turn over the complete car to the customer. In the case of foreign countries where the Exide Company have their own Service Stations, cars were to be despatched minus batteries, and the Exide Company would stock our battery in the several countries concerned. and upon instructions that a chassis had arrived and a battery was required, a battery would be at once supplied. By this method we cut out the overlapping which resulted in divided responsibilities, and we feel certain that the result of what has been done up to the moment is that we shall in the near future overcome to a large extent the battery troubles, and that failures will be few and far between under these conditions. | ||