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 from an accumulator manufacturer discussing ignition, dynamo output, and battery over-charging issues on Phantom cars.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 54\1\ Scan045 | |
| Date | 23th November 1925 | |
| X. 4617P. 2 Works, Dagenham Dock, Essex TELEPHONE VICTORIA 3667. 5 LINES PRIVATE BRANCH EXCHANGE. TELEGRAMS CONCENTRATION, SOWEST, LONDON. Manufacturers of P&R Accumulators Established 1889 PETO & RADFORD Proprietors - Pritchett & Gold and E.P.S. Company Ltd. 50 GROSVENOR GARDENS, LONDON. S.W.1. DIRECTORS: SIR ARCHIBALD C. GOLD F.C. GRAHAM MENZIES G.R.N. MINCHIN WILLIAM PETO C.R.D. PRITCHETT T.W. PRITCHETT. YOUR REF. OUR REF. M/5. 23rd November 1925. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} Fowler Clark Esq., Messrs. Rolls Royce Ltd., DERBY. X 5780 X 8660 Dear Fowler Clark, Thanks for yours of the 21st inst. I note you are going to alter the Instruction Book as suggested. With regard to Mr. Hives' point, I think he is probably correct with the cars as they now are. Perhaps I was referring to the Phantom cars as they first came out. I have tried four or five of these and they all misfired badly on battery ignition but since they have been fitted with the new type piston rings, which appear to stop the sooting up of the plugs, they seem to be all right. However, when the car is pulling hard on a hill, for example, and you are running on battery ignition only, I still think you can detect a difference if you switch it over to both. With regard to the output of the dynamo and the figures you give, I still think this is much too high. If the figure was 12 amperes maximum that is, after all, 50% more than it ought to be and I think you would get very much better all round satisfaction if you took the bull by the horns and cut down the output drastically. The batteries you have got for the 40/50 car now are exceedingly good and I think that if only you could avoid their being over-charged you would get really wonderful life results. We have had a good many batteries back, both of our make and Exide, and the condition of all of them is always the same, namely the paste coming out through over-charging and bringing the battery to an end. | ||