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).
Internal memorandum discussing battery over-discharge issues, causes, statistics, and specific car models affected.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 46\3\ Scan063 | |
| Date | 18th May 1922 | |
| X. 607. Eu for By Ps9/JP. 18/5/22. Copies for EFC Hm.{Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs} Derby [STAMP] SN{Mr Sanderson} 20 MAY 1922 RECEIVED [STAMP] He MAY 20 1922 RECEIVED RE: BATTERIES. Answering BY3/P15.5.22. 1°- Over-discharge means that the amount of current demanded from the battery is greater than the battery can supply, brought about by: (a) too many electrical gadgets. (b) too powerful lamps in headlamps. (c) Dynamo not charging sufficiently. the state of the battery with this complaint is : negative plates falling down & spongy. [spongy is struck through] positive plates buckled & cracked....S.. ......... result scrapped. 2°- Impossible to answer this precisely. Batteries of this make have been in use in France since 1920 onwards. We are, however, experiencing this trouble on late cars. Seven of the cars with over-discharged batteries are the following: 6-AG, 16-BW, 51-CE, 79-PE, 96-CE, 102-CW, 52-FW some of these are quite recent models. 3°- No complaint of new batteries arriving in a damaged condition. 4°- Exide report 50 %. We now proceed to make a few remarks upon the rest of your memorandum. Paragraph 6.- Appears to back up the " Exide" statement that the dynamo does not charge sufficiently, but in view of our experience, we shall prove that the battery is wrong. Paragraph 7.- We quite agree. Paragraph 8.- Rather harshly criticised especially in view of our experience and trouble. Let us suppose the writer of BY3, had been in Paris, and had had fully 150 cases of battery failure on new cars. Do not the following figures speak for themselves: 60 new 12 volts batteries over and above those supplied with new chassis have been disposed of by us to replace dud batteries. ......... | ||