FORD VAN POINTERS.
Page 28
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By R. T. Nicholson (Author of "The Book of the Ford ").
CrRIOUSLY, but perhaps naturally, I have lately had quite a number of letters from readers of these Pointers, asking what they ought to do about that tail-light. I say " curiously" because it is odd that the queries should come in a bunch. I say " naturally" because, after all, this is the season when one is most dependent on the lights. The truth is, of course, that the taiI-light is tucked away at the back of the vehicle—" out of sight, out of mind," and its failure—when it fails—is not noticed until Mr. Policeman draws attention to it Thea there is usually trouble. One poor beggar tells me that he has twice been summoned within a very short period fer taillight failure, and he badly wants to know what to do about it.
437.—The Tail-light on the Van.
Generally speaking, the tail-light on the van gives little trouble. It is electric on the up-to-date van, and only fails, as a rule, when the filament burns through. In the long run, however, the filament is bound to burn through, and then the driver carries • on innocent of the fact that he is breaking the law of the land, and courting trouble with the noblei wi tell man in blue. True, now that the tail light is on its own independent circuit, and battery-fed, the bulb is long-lived. The headlight bulbs, when magneto-fed (as on the old-style van, and as on the lorry), were far less
dependable, owing to the e_L'e_. variation of the voltage of the magneto output with speed, and also to the varying strain which they accordingly had to resist. Battery current has a steady voltage (6 volts to wit), which never Fig. 278.—A battery in
rises above the point of stallation for providing strain which the filament electric light for a lorry
is . meant to • stand. tail-lamp.
Hence the long life.
Nevertheless, any filament will burn through in time ; and then out goes the light. The driver ought, of course, to be keeping a watchful eye on the behaviour. of the tail-lamp all the time he is driving, giving an occasional glance over his shoulder to see if there is the customary gleam on the road, or the proper, reflection in the shop windows. But, because of that very dependability and long life of the taillight, he gets into the way of taking it for granted, and then, when 'rile light fails, trouble comes. A spare bulb .should always be carried to anticipate this trouble..
In the absence of a spare, insert one of the bright • headlight bulbs in the tail-lamp. -Of course you will then be able to use only one of your headlights, but that does not greatly matter in most circumstances, particularly in town ,driving (and it is in town that the police are most wary). You cannot very well insert a bulb from one of the side-lamps, because both are needed to indicate the full width of your vehicle, and absence of one of them is just as likely to get you e24 Tail light rnflhi; iii.
into difficulties with the police as absence of the taillight.
In the case of the first van model on which all three lights -were electric (that is, the two headlights and the taillight), there was a dim bulb in each headlight. One of these can be " pinched" for the taillight—" at a pinch." Of course, if you transfer a bright headlight bulb to your tail-lamp, you will have very brilliant illumination at the back end of your van, but that does not matter. Indeed, I believe in carrying a bright rear light rather than the dim glimmer that is standard. The standard bulb is of 2 c.p. only, not enough to go to bed by. I like a bulb which will give, say, 6 c.p. There is then never any doubt as to whether the taillamp is alight or not, for the gleam cast on the road (or the reflection in the shop windows) is then " as clear as daylight." Almost without watching you will know when the tail-lamp is doing its duty if you have a e c.p. bulb fitted. If you transfer a bright headlight bulb to the rear lamp, you will have 17 c.p. there, an unecessarily bright light. The only abjection to carrying an unnecessarily bright light at the tail, however, is that the filament of a blight light is rather more fragile than the filament of a dimmer light, owing to the higher resistance it offers to the battery current. There is, however, not a great deal in this: I mean, the 'higher candle-power bulb is not much shorter-lived than the lower candle-power bulb ; while the sense of securitythat the driver gets from the higher candle-power bulb is great. Six candle-plower is a good compromise. In point of fact, I have just had a 6 c.p. bulb fitted (instead of the standard 2 c.p., which gave the feeblest glimmer), and I am highly pleased with it.
438.—The Lorry Tail-light.
It is the tail-light on the lorry that gives most trouble. It is always bumping out, and there is a lot of hump at the rear of the lorry. (It was this misfortune that dogged the steps—or, rather, the treads— of my wretched correspondent who had been twice summoned for driving with his tail-light out.) The tail-light of the lorry is, of comae, an oil-lamp, and paraffin cannot stand bumps.
There was a paraffin rear light, too' on the old-style van (as well as pa. side lights), but there is less bump at the back of a, van than at the rear of a lorry, so that, on the whole, oil lamps on the van are satisfactory in most respects when well tended at all events, they mostly do keep alight, though they smoke at odd times, and are filthy to handle. But on the lorry they are quite unreliable, according to the statements of quite a number of,Jorry drivers 439.—Care of Oil Lamps.
Still, one can do something even with oil-lamps. The oil should never be allowed to get stale : it should be frequently elaanged, and the oil vessels should be well washed out with petrol, not less often than once a Month, say. The wicks, too, should be renewed frequently, and should be trimmed regularly once a day if used nightly.
The oil vessel should not be filled too high, or the paraffin will slop upwards over the wicks, and give too rich a " mixture " at the burning point. Threequarters full is about right.
A teaspoonful of petrol—rather less than more—to a charge of paraffin will help to keep the lamp light, and a small lump of camphor may assist in this.
(The conclusion of Mr. Nicholson's remarks upon tail-lighis will appear in the next cOn(rilintion.—Ed. CM.)