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).
Evaluating the performance of a Buick Heater and De-Mister system, including a sketch of its effective area on a windscreen.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 108\1\ scan0344 | |
| Date | 13th February 1938 | |
| To. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} c. Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Std. 600a CHATEAUROUX. 4/.13.2.38. 26.G.VI.-25/30 HP. Buick Heater & De-Mister. Thank you for your memo Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Std.5/MH.{M. Huckerby}11.2.38. Replying to your questions :- 1) The occupants of the front seats are uncomfortably hot with the heater running continuously at anything more than its slowest speed. This is at air temps. around freezing point. 2) The range is sufficient max.to min. but both want to be slower, i.e. a constant resistance in series. This may be because the ballasts used to enable the 6 volt heater to be used are not sufficient. 3) The de-mister works well but de-mists rather a narrow zone and the N.S. aperture tends to starve the O.S. of hot air. We noted that when being towed, the device appeared to work equally well as a de-mister blowing cold air. This was much pleasanter, as when blowing hot air, it dries ones throat in a most uncomfortable manner. The heater also has this characteristic in common with all others of this type. It is almost always objected to and most people refrain from leaving the heater or the de-mister running for longer than they can possibly help on account of the discomfort in the throat. 4) The de-mister was effective in thawing fog which froze onto the windscreen, but as with the mist inside, its range of action was rather small. The sketch gives a rough idea of the zone covered. [Sketch of a windscreen showing two zones] MIST ZONE ICE ZONE Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/IMW.{Ivan M. Waller - Head of Chateauroux} Franklin Waller. | ||