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).
Tests on alternative lubrication oils as a replacement for Prices oil.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\O\2January1926-March1926\ Scan166 | |
| Date | 16th March 1926 | |
| To R.{Sir Henry Royce} from Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. to CJ. EJ. c. to RG.{Mr Rowledge} E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} c. to DA.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} c. to Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} EP.{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} LUBRICATION OILS. X967 X1583 We are frequently being asked to recommend an alternative oil to Prices. Prices oil is not easily obtainable in the British Isles and cannot be obtained at all on the Continent. As an alternative oil to Prices, we have tried - Wakefields, Duckhams, Vacuum and Shell. The three latter are straight mineral oils except for Shell super-light oil which from our own laboratory tests contains 4% fatty oils. For efficiency, the Shell super-light oil is very good but the viscosity at normal temperatures is considerably lower than Prices oil. Due to this we have found that if we use super-light oil on cars we do get an increase in noise. There are slight rattles and taps which are damped out with an oil of higher viscosity. Prices oils XXXXX have served us exceedingly well, therefore in looking for an alternative we have tried to obtain an oil which follows closely their specification. The oil which comes the closest to Prices specification is Wakefields 'XL'. We have used this oil on a large number of tests in France. It has been run on Phantom, Silver Ghost and 20 HP. Altogether we have run approximately 100,000 miles on Wakefields XL. oil. In our opinion the results we have contd :- | ||