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Passing Comments

11th July 1958, Page 28
11th July 1958
Page 28
Page 29
Page 28, 11th July 1958 — Passing Comments
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German Expert and Our Roads

IN an interesting recent talk to the House of Commons I All-Party Roads Croup, Professor Max Feuchtinger, consulting traffic engineer for Ulm-Danube,and lecturer at the Technical University, Stuttgart, made some interesting observations concerning Britain's road system and its users.

He said that the German visitor acknowledged with surprise and admiration the good behaviour on our roads and was almost embarrassed, by the .never-ending patience of British drivers, even if the queues, in London's streets became endless. He added that if -the British people had a little less -patience they would, probably, already -have had better roads.

The speaker also pointed out that the comparative safety of our roads was purchased very expensively from an _economic point of view. The losses resulting from low traffic speeds and congestion were tremendous and estimated by the Road Research Laboratory at 000m. annually.

The professor had been invited to speak by the Roads Campaign Council,

Corrosion Inhibitor for Anti-freeze

BORAX has many uses, but one which might appear at first to be unusual is as a corrosion inhibitor in antifreeze solutions. Research by Borax Consolidated, Ltd., is claimed to have confirmed that under most conditions where ferrous metals are immersed in solutions containing ethylene glycol, borax-will protect them almost indefinitely from corrosion. In fact, if has-proved effective in circumstances which caused breakdown of some other inhibitors. A26 It is also satisfactory when employed with-typical aluminium alloys, as used for some cylinder heads and other parts of cooling systems.

Both "20 Mule Team" borax (decahydrate) and " Neobor " borax (pentahydrate) are soluble in ethylene glycol, thus making additions of these materials a simple matter. The recommended quantity to be added is 3 per cent, by weight of the glycol, but this amount is not critical and can be subject to some variation without adversely affecting the protective action.

The use of borax for this purpose has contributed to the preparation of draft British Standard No. CY(FHC)5I00; which was published in May.

A Story on Tarpaulins

THE subject of tarpaulins may not seem of absorbing I interest, but there is more in it than meets the eye. This was learned recently at the Scottish Flax Linen Exhibition held in the Royal Scottish Corporation Hall, London.

As with so many other things, the development of tarpaulins which will wear and weather better, and give greater strength with lighter weight, has resulted from competition. in this instance it has been by the invasion of synthetic materials such as nylon, yet as a material for tarpaulins, flax has been well tried for many years, has proved its worth, and is now claimed to be cheaper than comparable natural or synthetic materials.

The best quality " cloth " is made from boiled flax line, which, after combing, is much stronger than the tow removed by this process. Although 10 per cent: of the we:ght is lost, the remainder is of much greater value, and the resulting canvas is no dearer, weight for weight. Many tarpaulins are necessarily heavy, but the latest is a proofed 16-9z. type of flax linen.

The old-established method of waterproofing flax canvas was to treat it with boiled linseed oil and vegetable black. This, in railway use gives about five years' active life. Whilst efficient, such tarpaulins are heavy—about 32 oz.—and they are to some extent being superseded by impregnation with insoluble metallic soaps, combined with rot-proofing agents. These are the type most commonly used for lorry covers, as they are porous and so prevent condensation underneath, water penetration being prevented by'repellants.

Post-war developments include waterproofing with plastics, either by impregnation or coating, the former adds 6-8 oz. per sq, yd. and gives a smooth, pliable finish, whilst coating, if applied to both sides, may add 16 oz. The latest method is to enclose each fibre in a silicone film. This adds no weight and does not affect the colour. Such cloth is unaffected by temperatures down to —40 degrees C. and re-dressing is simple. Fire-proofing treatments are also now available.

An interesting point is that what sometimes appear to be small burns can be caused by sooty particles, as from oilburning ships, which can form acid in the presence of moisture, and this, as the canvas dries oft, becomes concentrated, thus adding to its corrosive effect.

Tuning Engines Quickly

(loop tuning of an engine not only means that it will

develop more power, but that this will be reflected more economically in respect of fuel consumption. In this connection many servicing establishments in Britain, and a great many more in America, are employing a simplified method of testing by which actual troubles can be located rapidly, and no time is wasted on operational details with which there is no reason to interfere.

This can be achieved by the use of the Crypton "Motormaster" analyser, which is compacted into small suitcase size, complete with carrying handle, and allows the making of seven essential tests in a matter of 10-20 mm. Instead of testing all circuits and components individually, tests are conducted first in groups, and then any fault in a defective group is easily located.

• The equipment includes (a) a new Combined automatic advance and ignition tester, and (b) a composite threeinstrument rester combining electric tachometer, distributortest meter and moving-coil volt meter. The makers are Crypton Equipment, Ltd., Bridgwater, Somerset.

Incidentally, their training course on motor-vehicle servicing, Which was issued about 18 months ago at 42s., has now been reduced to 25s. It includes 12 fully illustrated lessons, complete with examination papers, covering practically every aspect of electrical service, engine testing and tuning.


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