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 a 20 HP car owner seeking advice on a dynamo charging issue that occurs when the engine is warm.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 47\4\ Scan015 | |
| Date | 14th June 1926 | |
| COPY. X418 14th June, 1926. Curly Dip, Budleigh Salterton, Devon. 20 HP. chassis GA.53 (Chassis left works early 1924) Dear Sirs, I should be grateful if you would advise me what to do to cure a trouble which began on my car about a week ago. The ammeter on the dashboard, and the weak sound of the horn suddenly informed me that the dynamo was no longer charging the batteries. When I got home I opened the fuse box and examined the automatic cutout; the platinum points were about .030" apart and I set them closer (about .025" apart). In the meantime the engine had cooled down and when I tested it, the trouble was apparently cured. After running a few miles the trouble occurred again. I then filed the platinum points but the trouble occurrs as soon as the engine gets warm and disappears if I run for some time with the radiator shutters open and get the engine very cool. It is true I have not filed the platinum points so as to give a good surface contact, they touch at the top only as I did not notice that the axes of the platinum pins were not quite parallel. Consequently they meet like this [drawing] but I don't suppose this is the cause of the trouble. Do you think I can - under your advice - cure the trouble ? I am an engineer but no electrician. Or is there anyone at Exeter I could get to do the job under your instructions ? I can find nothing in the Instruction Book which seems likely to help me in this matter. sgd. C.F. Bennion. | ||