MODERN MOTORING.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue 149, 7 September 1928, Page 4

MODERN MOTORING.

DEMANDS ON BAT.TERY. GIVE IT A CHANCE. CHARGING TAKES SOME TIME. It has been roughly estimated that the electrical energy required to start a car is only restored to the battery after a run of twenty minutes on the road; this is assuming that the engine starts immediately. A motorist with experience has his generator adjusted to best meet his average motoring conditions. For example, if the car is used mostly for night running the highest rate of charge from a generator should he sought; if the car is rarely used at night then the generator can be adjusted accordingly. The important thing to remember is that one cannot get more out of a battery than is put in, just as in the case of the tank, the pints available for flowing out cannot exceed the quantity which is being put in. Consequently, if a car is parked night after night with the lamps left burning, the amount of daytime running is insufficient to maintain* the level, and after a few weeks signs of incipient electrical disaster will not be wanting. To parody a well-known advertising slogan, “The lights will get dimmer when the throttle is closed.” At the same time the owner will begin to get plenty of practice in cranking the engine, owing to the inability of his electric starter to rotate the power unit at sufficient speed. fi_.:__:: .->* lighting in accordance with the throttle position indicate, of course, that the voltage of batteries has sunk to a dangerous extent, so that when the cut-out operates and the dynamo ceases to supply the lighting circuit, there is a drop of electrical pressure and the lights go dim. With a fully-charged battery, on the other hand, the operation of (lie cut-out is not made visible, because the voltage does not change. As an example, take the case of a car used for conveying its owner to and from work day by day. In traffic conditions the average daylight charging rate may be about four amperes, so that if the run into town in the morning occupies half an hour only two ampere hours will have been put into the battery. Suppose that every evening the car stands for two hours with the lights on, during which the current is flowing at a rate of about three amperes. In that time six ampere hours will be used. The run home at night does not count for much either way, because the dynamo will not be able to do much charging if the lights are on and the owner is also using the electric horn and windscreen wiper. Consequently the daily net loss may be taken as about four ampere hours, and if 120. represents the capacity of the battery it will be completely run down in a matter of about 30 days.

Of course, there are many cars on which the electrical equipment is designed on more liberal lines, hut one to two months of winter running, involving a lot of night work, is usually sufficient to place the accumulators in a had condition. Matters will not be assisted if the owner is in the habit of neglecting to maintain the electrolyte at the correct level and at the correct strength. In the ordinary way it is sufficient to add distilled water from time to time, so that the tops of the plates are fully covered, but it is highly advisable to test the strength with a hydrometer, because the addition of acid may be necessary.

It would be a real boon if someone would invent an apparatus which would show, at any rate approximately, the quantity of electricity actually available in the accumulators. True, the decrease of voltage is some indication, hut as a rule that is followed fairly rapidly by the complete collapse of the accumulators.

It is obvious that there are many means of saving the battery from excessive work. Tf necessarv, it

should be recharged if the demand is so great that the generator cannot replenish with sufficient rapidity. Headlights should he used only when absolutely necessary; oil well-lighted roads, the side lights would be sufficient. Careful attention should be given to the engine in winter to secure as easy starting as possible. It is a good plan, if the battery is being over-stressed, to turn the engine over a few times by hand before using the self-starter. Another little trick is to depress the clutch pedal fully; this eases the load because it removes the need to turn over the gear wheels among the thick lubricant in the gearbox, as well as the motor itself.

THE HAND OF HELP. MOTORING IN BRITAIN. The immense amount of holiday motor traffic during the Whitsuntide holidays afforded ample proof of the increasing popularity of motoring in Great Britain, and the efficiency of the roadside assistance provided by the Automobile Association.

The records received from the road patrols show that they assisted members on 270,702 occasions. Of this total 262,827 were in connection with requests for road directions and information, 5652 members received assistance following breakdowns, and nmning supplies were obtained for 2225 drivers of stranded motor cars and motor cycles. The A.A. night service assisted nearly 2000 members driving after,usual hours.

The majority of accidents requiring “A.A. first aid” service were of a minor character. This service is rendered road users and other members of the public, whether A.A. members or not. In one case, a motor-

ist not a member—involved in a serious accident on Whit Monday, wrote appreciating the excellent qualified assistance received from the patrol on the road, and in expressing his keen appreciation after further treatment at the hospital, stated:—-“I would like to broadcast it, and when

HINTS BY THE WAY.

circumstances permit, I am certainly going to be a member of the finest thing a motorist can go in for. ’ ’ TREND OF DESIGN. CLOSED CARS PREDOMINATE. BETTER LIGHTING SYSTEMS. Just a few years ago the touringmodel ear was the only one that would sell at all. To-day closed ears have become so popular that they are regarded as the standard model. Indeed, it may he said that the touring car body has been almost neglected, because of the great interest which was centred in the closed ear, and similarly we have not had so many new examples lately of allweather productions. The saloon for the moment would seem to hold the attention of the designers. And in the development of the saloon there is a decided tendency toward giving much more light than has been given in conventional designs hitherto. Long side windows reaching well to the roof and with the narrowest pillars which can he contrived, seem to he the order of the day.

The rear quarters, which in some of the previous designs were without lights, are now window fitted and the rear quarter windows are extended right to the edge of the rear seat sq ( uah. Also we have increased the area of the rear light very considerably. Instead of what we might call the small inspection window at the rear, we now' have long and fairly wide glasses.

This is a decided step in the right direction, and it enables the driver, provided he is equipped with a good inside roof mirror, to have a wide angle view of the road when reversing- or when turning, and this adds enormously to . the safety of road usage. EDUCATIVE JUSTICE. CHICAGO’S NOVEL PLAN. TRAFFIC COURT IN SCHOOL. To make good motorists, educate them instead of summarily penalising them for first offences. That is the belief of the Chicago Park Traffic Board, which has its own police and its own novel system of meting out justice to traffic violators who are haled into Courts under the jurisdiction of the Board. This system is in reality a training school for those drivers who seem to have difficulty in obeying the traffic rules.

The offenders are brought to Court in the usual way with a summons served by the traffic policeman. Arriving at the Courtroom, the “technical prisoner” is usually ready to pav a fine, and many of them come with counsel. They are from all strata of life. Some are in overalls, while others are bejewelled and in expensive furs. The Judge usually opens Court with the following startling declaration: “Now, I want you to cheer up—none of you is going to be fined or sent to gaol.”

This statement is usually followed hv a chorus of sighs, and then theMagistrate explains the unique system of “educational justice.” He talks about the theory of traffic regulation and its practice for the greatest good for the greatest number of people, and follows this with direct questions to his “students.” Those who do not seem to know much about traffic regulations are given a course in handling a ear in traffic. Except in eases of repeated violation, the violator is not fined or sent to gaol.

It is a goodwill method of handling the traffic violation problem, and usually the offender becomes an exponent of careful driving, and goes out of Court a missionary for the new doctrine of protecting the pedestrian. Proof of the efficacy of this system is contained in the latest report of the Chicago Park police, which shows that traffic accidents have not increased in proportion to the increase in motor vehicles in that city, hut have steadily decreased.

i IS THE CAR UNSOCIABLE. INFLUENCES THAT PREY ON THE LONELY DRIVER. A large number of car owners are compelled to cover a considerable proportion of their annual • mileage with the passengers’ seats unoccupied. Perhaps to some motorists solo driving is welcome, preferred to those occasions when the car is well filled. Yet there is something a little unsocial about the car that is empty except for its driver. The larger the ear the stronger this impression is liable to become. One may well he an enthusiastic member of the motoring community, revelling in the very control of the machine that is responsive to one’s slightest movement, and yet fail to enjoy to the full the journeys taken alone. It is not solely a question of the. natural love of human companionship; the car itself, with vacant seats, induces an additional sense of loneliness. Those empty seats, it makes one feel, were intended to be used; they represent absent friends who should be sharing the joys of the open road and the charm of the beautiful countryside. The car tends to induce habits that are essentially gregarious; to use it a great deal alone is to experience the influence of isolation. If one is engaged upon a long run purely for business purposes, with a set object in view, this imagined oppression does not usually force itself upon a driver, hut in other circumstances it frequently becomes prominent. In the ease of a motor cycle, this disability, if such it be, does not exist to anything like the same extent, for the two-wheeler seems much more than the ear to be a vehicle that is intended for unaecompanying motoring.

FOR THE HOME GARAGE,

POINTER ON BRAKES. Brake adjusters, in the main, should not contemplate equalising the rear brakes with the front pair. The proportion between the different sets usually is automatically taken care of by the linkage, or the brakes so set originally that there is no necharaeter. It is well to remember that necessity for any adjustments of this equalisation has its limits. REMOVING RUST. A good method of removing rust from nickelled surfaces is to grease the rusted parts well, and after allowing the grease to remain on for some hours, to nib with a rag dipped in ammonia. If this does not remove the rust, the part should be rubbed with a rag moistened with diluted hydrochloricacid, and then wiped dry quickly. The part should then lie washed in clean water and polished with ordinary brass polish. The best preventive of rust is a coating of varnish after the part has been thoroughly cleaned.