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 detailing the performance of a car battery in a Phantom III during an extended trip.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 114\4\ scan0107 | |
| Date | 3rd May 1937 | |
| 1011 80/1 3rd. May 1937 Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/HFH.{Hoppy F. Hamilton}19/AP. G.R.N.Minchin Esq., Messrs Peto & Radford, 50 Grosvenor Gardens, LONDON S.W.1. Your Ref. M/5. Dear Sir, With reference to your letter of the 30th ult., Mr.West has asked me to write to you with regard to the battery fitted to our Phantom III. Nairobi car. You have already had photographs of the battery, and as I was with the car throughout the run he thought that I might be able to give you some interesting details. In your letter your remark that the car had no water put in it from start to finish. This was true of the radiator but I regret that although the battery behaved in a wonderful manner, water had to be added on three occasions. This was done at intervals of 4000 miles, during which time the car passed through temperatures of as much as 118° in the shade. The water was never found to be below the top of the plates and was only added as a precautionary measure in each case. Not more than 1½ pints was added throughout the trip, which is a remarkable feat. At times the battery was being used throughout the night, 13 hours of hard driving. In fact it never at any time shewed signs of running down or giving the slightest trouble. It not only went under considerable strain as regards supplying current, but was also jolted about in a manner that few batteries have undergone before. Battery troubles as you know are one of the chief troubles in the Sahara, and it is highly creditable that the battery in question should have so successfully completed the trip. continued | ||