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).
Experiments and results on tungsten contact points.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 35\6\ scan 183 | |
| Date | 19th August 1926 | |
| To Wd.{Mr Wood/Mr Whitehead} from EFC. X2894 EFC2/T19.8.26. X.2894 - TUNGSTEN CONTACT POINTS. In connection with our experiments on tungsten contact points we are handing you herewith four sets of tungsten contact lever and tungsten contact point as follows :- (1) One set RR. contact lever and point, run 10,000 miles on bench with finer primary winding coil. (Result - not at all good). (2) One set of Remy contact lever and point, run 10,000miles on bench with standard RR. ignition coil under standard conditions (except only for the make and break). Result - quite good. (3) One set RR. contact lever and point with unused tungsten contact point. (4) One set Remy contact lever and point with unused tungsten contact point. In the case of the two former, we would like you to send these to Messrs. Reynolds, pointing out that the conditions under which these two were run were worse for the Remy set than for the RR-Reynold set. With the exception of the make and break, the electrical circuit conditions were identical, with one further exception, viz, that an ignition coil taking smaller current was used in the case of the RR-Reynold points. Yet in spite of this, bad oxidation occurs with the Reynold points as is clear from inspection, which, though not noticed in this particular case, we know does lead to misfiring eventually, whereas the Remy tungsten point remained nice and clean and nearly flat. Can Messrs. Reynolds tell us why this is the case, if both sets of points are, as they purport to be, pure tungsten? Our own Contd. | ||