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).
Electrical troubles regarding magneto platinum points and battery ignition points.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 37\1\ scan 150 | |
| Date | 14th February 1927 | |
| To EFC. from Hm{Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs}/NRC.{N. R. Chandler} X3199 In reply to your query re electrical troubles :- (1) Magneto Platinum Points. With regard to the E.O.6. magnetos fitted to all post-war 40/50 HP. cars, these are very little trouble indeed, and on overhauls we find that only one out of every 5 or 6 requires replacement, and this covers cars which have been running for as much as 7 years. It is difficult to give mileages in a case of this sort since we do not keep exact records of Platinum Points, but we think there are several cases of over 10,000 miles in which we have no record of the points previously having been replaced, although, whether or not the owner may have replaced them, we do not know. From a point of view of platinum points, we can say that the E.O.6. Watford is no more troublesome than the pre-war Bosch. With regard to platinum points on the R.O.1 we have no record at all of any length of service for this make, because the battery ignition on the 20. is almost invariably used, but we cannot recall a case of failure of the platinum point on the R.O.1. magneto. Against this, however, we have a good many cases of the magneto becoming so weak that it is extremely difficult to start the engine on it, while the slow running is very poor. (2) Battery Ignition Points. X.4632. X.8680. X.5680. We know that these are a great source of trouble on 20's Phantoms and late Silver Ghosts, and we are sure we need not here enlarge on this trouble, as you are familiar with it. Strange to say, the original post-war Silver Ghost having the non-trembler coil but the pre-war type of make and break with very massive platinums does not give anything like so much trouble. In fact they could be regarded as satisfactory. When this same type of make and break was used on pre-war cars with the trembler coil, practically no trouble was experienced, but this is hardly a fair comparison for the simple reason that the trembler coil ignition was hardly ever used except for starting the engine, on account of excessive noise made by the buzzing of the coil, quite apart from the fact that the power at high speeds was not good. Contd. | ||