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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).
Technical memorandum discussing improvements to the vehicle's fuse box and electrical cutout system.

Identifier  ExFiles\Box 166\7\  img025
Date  13th June 1934
  
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or their friends. We know of instances in our own experience where the extinction of both head lamps has caused cars to finish upside down in the ditch, and we are therefore keen to include this improvement.

Another thing which we wish to avoid is having five accessories hung on the one fuse like we shall be compelled to do on Phantom in wiring up the cigar lighter on a circuit separate from the ammeter. In other words we want more fuses for the accessories to avoid the annoyance of five accessories going out of action at once, in the event of a local short. It is, for example, extremely inconvenient on a wet day if the windscreen wiper has been thrown out of action in this way through a fault on another circuit.

Another convenience that need hardly be emphasised in the provision of extra fuses is the greater ease with which a fault can be traced and remedied.

A further proposal put up by By/RD is to remove the cutout from the fuse box altogether so that the whole of the fuse box will be available for fusing purposes, and this would also probably enable us to retain a dividing wall for the coachbuilders portion, namely, the accessory fuses, which is a desirable feature.

It is agreed that the proper place for the cutout is the sealed box containing the vibrator control unit to prevent interference, which we do find occurs with this unit and at the same time Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Wst. suggested that the present design of cutout which is somewhat obsolete could be improved and simplified by the provision of one winding in place of the present double bobbin, and also a scheme for adjusting and fixing the tension of the spring controlling the contact arm.

The next point that arises is that in making these changes with the fuses arranged closer together, the glass tube form of fuse is more easy to withdraw and replace and as we have been considering going over to this form of fuse for some time the proposed modified scheme provides a suitable opportunity for introducing this change.

We are therefore arranging on SpectreCodename for Phantom III to make a new base moulding for the fuse box, utilising the whole of the space for fuses of the tubular pattern and a magazine for spare fuses would also be arranged in a convenient position on the same moulding.

The cutout will be removed and suitably housed with the vibrator control unit, and its re-scheming will also be considered.
  
  


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