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 and dynamo issues on 40/50 HP & 20 HP chassis models.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 47\4\ Scan045 | |
| Date | 25th November 1925 | |
| X4118 W/S. - Cr.{Mr Cra???ster / Mr Chichester} H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} Bt.{Capt. J. S. Burt - Engineer} FBS.{F. Bell-Scott} MK.{R. E. B. Meade-King} St.{Capt. P. R. Strong} EFC. Hm{Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs}/NRC{N. R. Chandler}9/EW25.11.25. BATTERIES & DYNAMOS 40/50 HP & 20 HP. CHASSIS. X4338 There appears to be a good deal of doubt as to whether or not average owners under average conditions find they are easily able to keep their batteries fully charged all the year round, or whether artifical charging has to be resorted to to any extent. Our impression has been that there are many cases of over-charging and consequent loss of electrolyte, on the other hand Cr.{Mr Cra???ster / Mr Chichester} informs us there are many cases of difficulty in keeping the batteries well charged The trouble is that conditions vary so much. On the one hand we have the car used largely for town work with a considerable amount of night driving in traffic at low speeds and frequent use of starter motor. On the other hand we have the car used largely for touring with only occasional heavy traffic work at night. We would be very glad to know your experience of owners' actual troubles or otherwise. Possibly a number of owners have battery trouble attended to by local service stations without a report of such trouble coming to our notice. The number of cases of accumulator repairs or replacements which come through us, is comparatively small, certainly not sufficient to cause us to think that much trouble is experienced by owners. We have a number of cases of trouble with the starter motor drive and also with dynamos melting the solder of the commutator bars, but this latter trouble we usually attribute to running the dynamo excited with the battery either disconnected or badly connected up through loose or dirty terminals. Another likely cause of trouble is that the control brush may wear away and fail to make contact, before the other brushes. Your experiences would be appreciated. Hm{Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs}/N R C. | ||