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).
Letter from The Lodge Sparking Plug Co. Ltd. regarding a change in spark plug design due to material supply issues from Germany.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 79\1\ scan0033 | |
| Date | 17th December 1914 | |
| COPY. The Lodge Sparking Plug Co.Ltd., BIRMINGHAM. DECEMBER 17th.1914. Messrs Rolls Royce Ltd., Nightingale Road, DERBY. Dear Sirs, Your Ref: JR{Mr James Royce}1/J151214. We are in receipt of your letter of the 15th inst. and we note that you will require 2 or 3 months in which to test the new sparking plug. We fear however we may not be able to supply the old standard plug to your orders, as our stock is almost depleted. It reply to your question, it is impossible to continue manufacturing the old Standard plug, as the insulator is made from a material which is only found in Germany, and similar material found in other Countries does not give the same results. We have therefore changed the design of the Standard Plug, to another type which is absolutely as satisfactory, and in some ways better, but it has the disadvantage of being a little more expensive to make. You ask us what advantage can be expected from the use of this new design as compared to the previous design. On a well cooled engine like the "Rolls-Royce", we do not expect any difference will be noticed, but on some of the very small high speed engines which get extremely hot, the new design is more reliable that the old design, as it will not break under any amount of heat. [Handwritten in left margin: X 6 O /] [Handwritten at bottom: Original returned to Na{Mr Nadin}/R 4/1/15] | ||