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 to an oil company regarding sludge formation in a gearbox and the unsuitability of their Hi-Press oil.
Identifier | ExFiles\Box 145\2\ scan0074 | |
Date | 27th September 1935 | |
X1231 Exptl. Dept. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Gry.{Shadwell Grylls}15/KW. 27th September,1935. Messrs. C.C. Wakefield & Co.Ltd., Wakefield House, 30-32 Cheapside, LONDON, E.C.2. For the attention of Mr. Evans. Dear Sirs, We are sending you a sample of some sludge collected from a gearbox that had run about 8,000 miles on your light Hi-Press Oil. The sludge had collected chiefly underneath the plungers of the synchromesh mechanism, thereby preventing their proper functioning. This box has frequently attained a temperature of 105°C. on the road. We think you will find that most of the deposit is a mixture of copper sulphide and copper chloride. A further test we have done is to insert a piece of steel and a piece of copper in some Hi-Press oil, in one case at room temperature and in the other case at 100°C. In the first case no deposit has formed, but in the second case the copper is covered with a thick black coating. We should be glad to have your views on this trouble because as it stands this oil is quite unsuitable for use in a gearbox. Yours faithfully, FOR ROLLS-ROYCE LIMITED. | ||