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LAMPS AND LAMP FITTINGS.

30th September 1924
Page 27
Page 27, 30th September 1924 — LAMPS AND LAMP FITTINGS.
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Some Useful Fittings Made by Our Driver and Mechanic Readers.

HINTS such as the arie which we have received from "W.M.C.," a-f Frampton-on-Severn, to whom we award the 15s. prize, are particularly valuable. He is, he says, engaged in a position where he has to be responsible for the maintenance of a fleet of vehicles, and he has continually to be devising contraptions which enable him to effect savings in those repair expenses which are so important an item in the cost of maintenance.

A typical case, we should think, and one which will, be within the experience of the majority of our readers, concerns number-plates. Much of the work upon which the fleet for which he is responsible is engaged involves the collection and discharge of goods at loading docks. These are sometimes below the platform level of the vehicles, and the consequence is that, notwithstanding extreme care on the part of the driver, it frequently happens that the rear number plate is 'damaged by coming into forcible contact with the edge of the dock.

To reduce expenditure on this account, " W.M.C. ' has devised an attachment as ahown in one of the accompanying sketches, in which the numberplate itself i5 attached to a pair of uprights secured to brackets upon the frame or °basis in such a way that when a minor collision at 'the kin.d just described takes place the number-plate and its supports merely hinge bade Out. of the way, and can subsequently Ile pulled down into position again. The. binge bolts are screwed up so tightly that they will prevent the numter-plate swi'nging about When the vehicle ie on the road, but allow it to swing out of the. way in the special circumstances named.

The second sketch which we have from, this. correspondent shows a headlamp bracket designed to be adjustable

to accommodate lamps differing in size one from another. Like the other sketeh, it is sufficiently informative to need no description. "W.M.C.," however, does remark that it is advisable to allow that portion of the stem which is riveted into the flange to project ea that, when ths bracket is bolted on to the dashboard, the tension' of the bolts will assist in holding this riveted part in place. As an attainsfive, in the event of the mechanic being a sufficiently expert smith, the stem and flange might he welded together.

The third sketch illustrates a taillamp bracket which is designed to be fitted up somewhere inside the cab to provide a place for the tail lamp when it is not actually required.

ANOTHER correspondent who writes us about tail lamps is "S.G.M.," of Dow. He drives a heavy steam wagon, and has had tralible with his tail lamp cowing to email boys swinging on the rear of the lorry, kicking the red glass and breaking it He has now eliminated all that trouble by equipping his tail

lamp with a guard of sheet" metal 1-16% in. thick, and designed as shown in the accompanying E,keteh It is riveted to the door of the lamp so that it swings • to and fro with it and is not in the way. When making this guard, he suggests that the first thing to do is to cut the central hole, then bend the iron to the required shape, and, finally, to drill rivet holes both in ;the guard and in the lampa

• AN adjustable reflector for a head

lamp is-Illustrated by one of the accompanying skeohes-which has reached us from "II.A.B.," of Rotherham. As may be seen, a plain bolt with a jaw end is secured into the rear of the-lamp, and the reflector carried in the jaw and secured in any desired position by the manipulation of a wing nut. :"11.A.B." tells us that he has found this fitting most useful when travelling at night

along roads to which be is not accustomed, as, in those circumstances, the reflector can be set to direct the light in a downward direction, which is more satisfactory when travelling comparatively slowly.

THE controversy concerning the ad visability of \dimming -headlights is still a topical one. "LL.,' of Seaton Delaval, is evidently in favour of dimming, for he suggests a means whereby 'this operation can be carried out with acetylene headlamps. He fits an ()thin ary gas cock into the piping, between the generator and lamps, and on to the plug of the cock secures a brass disc about the size of a penny, into which a couple of holes diameter have been drilled. A forked rod, similar in design to that which is used for carburetter adjustment on a Ford, must now be made, of snail dimensions that the prongs al the lark will engage the two holes in the disc. The gas tap should be fitted with a special stop so that it cannot be quite closed. It will be understood that, by manipulation of the forked rod, the supply of gas can be diminished to such an extent as to dim the headlights. It may be found advisable to fit some type of stop to prevent entire choking of the gas.

THE care of lamps during the sum mer, OT in cases where they are not frequently in use, is the concern of. "H.R.," of Pontypool. In sacth circumstances, the lamps get out of order because of water getting into them, either stopping up the jets of acetylene lamps, or damping the wicks of oil lamps. He recommends, in the former case, that suitable corks should be procured and bored so that they serve as caps for the burners, and, in the latter, that a piece of cleaning rag should be wrapped

ronnd the wick. '

It occasionally happens, too, with oil lamps that the wick adheres to the base of the oil reservoir which has rusted on account of the presence of water in the oil or paraffin which has been used. This may be prevented by dropping a small piece of carbide into the oil reservoir of each lamp.

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