MOTORDOM

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 August 1932, Page 4

MOTORDOM

NEWS OF THE ROAD

(By

“Gearbox” )

BATTERY’S LIFE.

PROLONGING ITS EXISTENCE.

It is a common belief that the stoi--age battery has a normal effective lite of. from only two to three, or perhaps, if one is lucky, four years. For that reason the motorist who has neglected his battery, but who has enjoyed good service from it for several yetyrs is prone to scoff at the advice which is given with regard to its upkeep. Bui, es a matter of fact, although , a comparatively short span of life has been arbitrarily allotted to that often overworked unit, it will, if Pjoperly cared for, give many years of trouble-free service. It is no uncommon thing to find that a storage battery lias lasted for six or seven years; in fact, the relationship which its official .span of life bears to its nctuah performance may bo compared to the biblical three score years and ten” of the human being and the active centenarian. If we base our expectancy of battery life on those figures, we find that if a normal span of three years is predicted we can hope that a healt ty accumulator will have a useful existence of quito four years. But it is the car Owners duty to guard its state or well-being. That is no irksome- task, since it involves merely the observe neo of a few routine duties, among the most important of which . is the prevention of excessive mechanical and electrical strains. The plates of the battery are, in a sense, fragile, m that tho embedded paste which their active constituent may be ..disintegrated ana damaged by mechanical shocks and by making too heavy a call upon the electrical output of the cells. Foi those reasons one should see that tne battery is anchored firmly in its shell or box, and that it is not abused through prolonged use of the self-start-er motor. - . The normal vc/ltpge qr electrical pressure of the battery is either six 01 twelve volts, according to the type installed, and in order to obtain enough mechanical energy to crank the engine the starter motor makes a very heavy drain on its output of current, or amperage. For example, although the headlights may only draw off % amperes when they are burning, tile Starter motor may exact <x flow of 200 amperes or more. Such a rate of discharge is grossly excessive, And can only be tolerated -Ox" a few consecutive seconds. To keep the foot on the starter button- for minutes at a time will not only discharge the battery to a degree which no amount of ordinary running with the generator charging will make good, blit it will also tend to cause deterioration and buckling of the plates. Unless there is a definite .engine fault in either the carburettor or the ignition, it should never be necessary to use the starter for more than 15 or 20 seconds when starting a cold engine on even the frostiest of mornings. During the winter one should take the precaution of flooding the carburettor and cranking the engine with the starting handle before using the selfstarter and switching on the ignition. If the car is used for short journeys only, ono should avoid' using the selfstarter as far as possible, for if the distance covered between starts is not enough to recharge tho battery in respect of the drain made upon it when starting, then a steady debit balance is built up, and sooner or later the battery will fail and will have to be given a bench charge. Where it is found that' under ordinary conditions of running the battery loses its charge too rapidly, it must be determined.whether the trouble is’ due to a fault in the cells or to too low a charging rate. Every car owner should possess a battery hydrometer, and should take a reading of each cell at least once a month. If it is found that .the specific gravity of the cells is falling more or less uniformly, then it is probable that the charging rate is inadequate, but if only one or two cells are’ below, par, an internal fault must be suspected. There is little difficulty in increasing tho charging rato by adjustment of the third brush of the generator, but it is necessary to know what is the permissible limit, for if the rate is excessive the generator may be damaged; still, it is. often possible to raise it without risk. In other respects the storage battery should give little or no trouble, provided always that the cells are kept well' “topped up” with distilled water and the terminals free from dirt and corrosion.

SHACKLE BOLTS. Spring breakages are 1 among v 4he most common structural failures encountered by the average owner-driv-er, and although the spring leaves may be purchased very cheaply, the time taken over a replacement job at a service station makes the repair one which usually costs more than £l. The expense can be limited to that of the new leaf if the repair is done at home. The operation is a simple one, and no trouble is likely to be encountered until the last stage of reassembling when difficulty may be experienced in lining the shackle and spring eyeboles to replace the shackle bolt. This operation- becomes simple if both sides of the chassis are jacked up and supported by blocks to the level and to take all the weight of the spring concerned. Then it is necessary only to bend the spring slightly to bring the holes into line, when the bolt can be quickly replaced. The unskilled assistance of another member of the family should prove adequate in the task of lining up the shackle bolt holes. PETROL PACKING. Orders have been placed by the Vacuum Oil Co., Pty., Ltd., in New \Zealand for some hundreds of thousands of petrol and kerosene cases. Contracts have been signed with case manufacturers at the four centres, and provision is made in the contracts that ths cases are to bo manufactured of New Zealand timber. The placing of these contracts for cases by the Vacuum Oil Co. naturally has assisted, very considerably, not only in the boxmaking business, where the successful contractors are now in a position to work their plants to capacity, but also in the sawmilling business, as the timber required for such a quantity of cases will keep a number of sawmills operating.

To complete the requirements for the purpose of filling and packing petrol in New Zealand, the Vacum Oil Co w have also entered into contract:;, (cVe.-ing something like half a million Uns of British plate. The amount of labour envolved in the manufacture of theso cases and tins is the means of keeping in employment a. large number of New Zealanders.

“HORSE-POWER.”

NEW VERSION OF ORIGIN

A writer in ‘Heat and Power Engineering’ points out that it is genera y believed, and, indeed, stated in books on the steam engine, that the term “horse power” and the formula of a - certaining it originated with James Watt; but it has now been discovered that, like a number of other achievements attributed to him, it wasi real y the work of his assistant, William Murdoch, for, in 1874, Murdoch was sent up from Cornwall to Southwalk to erect a pumping engine in tne brewery of Messrs Barclay, Pei kins, and Co. The brewery used water, fiom its own well, the water being raised by a pump, operated by a horse walking hound and round in a circular stone pavement. This is still m use, and it is understood the . paved track still exists under the modern concrete pavement; but the engine, after working for exactly one hundred years,, was replaced by a new one m 1884, and there is a brass plate affixed to this modern one with an inscription to that effect. , . While erecting' the original engine, lie was asked by the- brewery manager if he knew of how many horses tlje engine would do the work of.. William Murdoch at once set to work t<j find out, and, measuring the amount of water that the horse pumped m a given time, ascertained that it was 22,000 foot pounds per minute; so, to allow for friction in the machineiy and to. be on the safe side, added 50 per cent., making the amount an engine should do per horse power 33,000 foot pounds per minute; therefore, when the engine was really working and the amount of water it raised was measured,'he was able to • ascertain how many horses it ,was equal to. Then, taking the size of the -cylinder, the length of stroke, and the pressure of steam, he was able to work out a formula that has been used by engineers ever since.

IN CASE OF FIRE JVhen a fire occurs under the bonnet very few car owners seem to have any idea as to the best way to,handle it. Perhaps, naturally, the first thing they are inclined to do is to stop the engine. Now,' unless the engine is equipped with mechanical pump feed, this is precisely what must not be done. On the contrary, keep the engine going at all costs, turning off the petrol meanwhile, if possible, and keep it. going hard. The. general inrush of air will in itself tend to extinguish or suck in the flame, and what fire there is which ’is not in the direct line of the fierce induction draught will be drawn by the aii’ current towards the intake and prevented from rising appreciably. Never throw water on burning petrol, because it will not mix with water, and will merely float on the top and continue to burn. Water, in fact, is very apt to act as a spreading medium for this reason. Dust, or even mud, if available, is a much better extinguishing agent; but do not rashly throw it over the engine or carburettor until you are satisfied that the fire is spreading, because, especially if the engine is running, it is possible—and, indeed likely —that considerable damage may. be done by the inspiration of such gritty matter.

These measures are well enough in nn emergency; but the wise motorist carries a proper fire extinguisher and sees that it is always ready for use.

MOTOR-CYCLING.

(By “Dry Sump.”)

Congratulations to Les Hughes (3i 8.5. A.), winner of Greymouth’s first Reliability Trial, run over a very exacting course. Hughes rode wonderfully well all round the and he shared wth A. Burrell (2g O.K Supreme) the honour of making the best ’ “in-the-saddle” crossing of the Orangipuku Ford. To obtain 994Jpts cut of a total of 1000 is nd mean feat, and calls for a good' deal of riding ability. The winner’s machine was particularly well prepared and tuned for the trial, and his victory was most popular and deserved.

Frank Malloy (O.K. Supreme) whe was second with 991pts, was the only ether rider besides Hughes to get within the lOpts of the total, which shows that the test was a fairly stiff one.

H.. Turtill (3J Ariel) rode well to gain third place with 988pts. As with most of the other competitors on the heavier machines, he lost most of his marks in the brake test, which was severe. J. Symes (3S Rudge) put up the best performance of the larger machines with a remarkably good figure of 14ft in this latter test. J. Willis (21 Raleigh) stopped in the shortest actual distance with 13ft. Willis put up a fine performance all round on a small machine, and' he should win a trial in the near future. He gained a special award for the best “250” performance, and thoroughly deserved this honour as his riding was first-class.

Altogether there were three retirements due to various causes but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely, .and the Pioneer Club deserve full credit for their organising and running of a very successful trial. The Greymouth Motor Cycle and Light Car Club is to have its annual meeting next week (exact date to be advertised in the “Star”), and the first business will be the arranging of a reliability trial. The Club’s Secretary, Dlr B. J. Doughty, already has a stiff course mapped out, which will be welcome news to sporting ridfers throughout the district.

LUBRICATION OF SPEEDOMETER.

There are few accessories of the car which require less attention than the speedometer, and for that reason it is sometimes believed that it requires none at all. All that is asked of the motorist, is that she should see that the connections of the flexible drive are securely screwed home, and that (he drive is periodically lubricated. Lubrication is carried out easily by unscrewing the flexible shaft from the ’ istrument and lifting the small washer between the outer casing and the internal drive. Then pull out the

latter slightly, and inject a little clean engine oil. When reconnecting the drive make certain that the square end ef th/ flexible shaft is fully engaged and screw up the knurled thimble end of the outer casing tightly.