For• DRIVERS, MECHANICS & FOREMEN.
Page 21
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A PRIZE OF '7 EN SHILLINGS is awarded each week to the sender of the best letterowldeli•we publifh on this page ; all others are paid jar at the rate of a penny a line, with anallowance for photographs. All notes are edited befbre being publithed. Mention your employer's name, in confidence, 08 evidence ot good faith. Address .p„ M, and F., "The Commercial Motor," 7-15, Rosebery Avenue London, B.C. 1.
Lamps Alight—
Light your lamps at 7.47 in London, 8.32 in Edinburgh, 7.55 in Newcastle, 7.59 in Liverpool, 7.55 in Birmingham, 7.57 in Bristol, and 8.44 in Dublin. The above times are for Saturday, 15th September. Under the Summer Time Act the clocks are to be put back one hour at 2 a.m. on Monday, 17th September.
Repairing an Injector Union: A Fire-fighting Tip.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 10s. prize this week.
[1779] W.N.B." (Hollinwood writes :—" There are several possible reasons, all fairly well-known, why an injector may fail .to act. Amongst those for which one generally searches are : suction pipe from tank blocked, warm water in the tank, and pieces of grit on the centre cones of the injector itself, It will also give trouble if at some point air is being admitted. 1 experienced a cage of this sort some time ago, owing to a crack in the union which couples the suction pipe up to the injector. As this is a thing which may.happen at any time owing to the effects of vibration, a description of a repair which I executed on the occasion to which I refer may not be without interest.
"The actual mishap which I have in mind occurred • twolve months ago, and the temporary repair which I made then is still holding good, so that I think I am fully justified in recommending it to my fellow readers of TEE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
"The flange had actually parted from the pipe, so tbat something had to be done, and that quickly, too. [ commenced by filing smooth and square the rough iurface of the broker} pipe. A short distance along :t, about .1 in. from this face, I drilled in the metal of
the •pipe, taking care no penetrate to the bore, our holes, each 3-16 in. diameter. Into these holes Z drove pegs, as shown in the sketch which I enclose. jiirethave had this redrawn and it is reproduced heremith.—Epl. These pegs I then filed to such a length that the thread of the union nut would just pass over them. Thus fitted they served quite well the puraose of a flange. A thick lead washer served both aS t distance piece to make up for the loss of the flange and also as jointing material.
"Another tip which I think all drivers might renember is in reference to fire-fighting. I have seen ieveral eases of wagons and loads burnt out lately
that I feel confident that any addition to the materials which the driver may legitimately carry, and which are adapted for use in rapidly subduing any fire which may break out, is worth the extra trouble it may involve as well as the space the material may take up on the wagon itself. My tip is :—always carry a short piece of garden hose, taking care that it-is the right size to fit the overflow pipe on the injector. 1 carry a piece of hose on the cab'of my engine, and so recently as last week it was the means of saving both my wagon and its valuable load. I had left the wagon for barely a couple of minutes, so that IL could help to load the trailer, when my attention was drawn to the front of the wagon which was ablaze, probably as the result of oil reaching the ashpan. By the time I could get to the engine, so fast was the fire getting hold, that the flames had reached the cab. However, I slipped my piece of hose on to the overflow pipe, and turned on a little steam. As a result, in less than half a minute the fire was put out.
"On another occasion, one day last month, I came across another driver whose lorry and its load had got well ablaze He had already telephonedlor the fire engine when I arrived on the scene, but so useful was my small piece of hose, for I naturally stopped to give all the assistance I could, that I had put out the fire before the arrival of the two fire-engines which ankwered his call. I may add that the driver whom I helped was in the employ of the Bleachers Association-, and--his load was cloth, which, but for my hosepipe, would have been entirely destroyed."
The Best Method of Reboring Cylinders.
[1780] " H.M." t west Bromwich) writes;—' There are several methods of reboring automobile cylinders, and each of them have their adherents. Some there are who pin their faith to grinding, others finish by lapping out the bore, while a third section will tell you there is no method to equal thatof reamering. From appearance alone, I had long been of opinion that. the grinding machine really held first place, until one day an opportunity occurred for making a test of the actual compression-holding power of cylinders which had been finished by different methods.
"To my surprise, I found that a well-bored cylinder, although it did not appear to have a surface anything like so good as another which had been ground, was nevertheless the better job of the two it held 2 lb. per sq. in. more pressure than the other. Both the cylinders, by the way, were of the same bore and stroke, and were alike in all other respects. I was so interested in this result that I kept a close watch on these cylinders, and when an opportunity occurred, three months later, to make a further test of the same cylinders after they had been in use for that length of time, I gladly availed myself of it. The result was still more in favour of the one which had been finished by boring and not by grinding. The former now showed 3 lb. more pressure per sq. in. on compression than the other.
"It is quite evident from the result of these observations, that The best-looking job is not necessarily the one that will give the best results in practice."