FORD VAN POINTERS.
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By R. T. Nicholson (Author of "The Book of the Ford ").
I) RIVERS OF the new Ford model ought to make a point of knowing at least something about
the new fitments. I am coming seriously to the conclusion that many of them, at all events, do not know "the first thing" about the self-starter and the other gadgets ; and that a few of those same drivers do not want to know anything about them. They prefer to do their starting "in the old way." in our time, we ha,ve heard grumbles enough about the shortcomings of "Lizzie' as a morning starter: yet, now that the engine is rigged up to start " all on its little own," many drivers are still hurdy-giirdying it into life.
176. The New Ford Self-starting Model.
Whenever I get the chance I make it a point—if I have the time—to have a talk with a Ford driver hung up in traffic. I want to know how much he knows, and what he does not know and what he does not want to know. I give and get quite a number of useful tips in that way. Here are the results of recent talks with drivers of self-starting Fords :—
Case 1.
Driver had had generator and starting motor taken off : was not going to be bothered with a self-starter : • the Ford would start easily enough without it—if you jacked up one back wheel. "What -about the bat
I asked. (It seemed to me that the battery was in any ease needed for the lights.) Oh he got that charged from time to time oft a dynamo. But fancy anybody having a dynamo provided on the van (for that is what the generator is) and then scrapping that and the whole Itaboodle because he " would not be bothered"! Well, well 1
Case 2.
Self-starter would not start the engine. Ammeter was registering all right (I saw), but driver did not know what the ammeter was there for, Had given the starter up as a bad job. "Why do you not get the agent that supplied the van to put you on the right track ?" I asked. "I've got no time : too busy ! " was the reply. "Beside, I can start her up all right by turning .the handle, though shes a bit stiff, the engine being new." " Lights " "Oh! the lights arc all right : they're fine !"
Case 3. •
"Nothing doing" with the new equipment. Had not tried overmuch to get the self-starter to work. " Could net be bothered." As a matter of fact, the ammeter was not registering at all, so that the chances were that the battery was run down, or, at all events, was running down. Driver could not get any light "to speak of" from the headlamps, but that did not worry him, because he ha4 only a daylight round. From these three cases I have jumped to the conclusion that there are many drivers who do not take too readily to new contraptions—even when they are in the nature of real improvements. Personally, I never want to start an engine "by hand" again. I have had enough. When I want exercise I know how to get it without handle-grinding.
And here a word to Ford agents—all good men and true, but a very busy crowd, so busy that they "can't be bothered" at times to see that the drivers who take the new vans away know all that they should do about them. Messrs. Ford agents, it really is not fair to send those drivers away empty-headed as to the new improvements: it is not enough to tell them how to set the switche% and to leave it at that.. If I were to-day occupying the proud position of a Ford agent I would give half-an-hour's instruction to every driver who came to take delivery of a new van. I would say thus:—
177. The Generator.
"You see that fat, roly-poly on the right-hand side of the engine--that Is the generator. You can call it dynaMo if you like. That is where the electricity is made. Inside the easing (or housing) all sorts of things happen—wheels turn, and -there are generally busy times going on. They go on all the while the engine is running at anything like speed. Do not ask me how the 6lectricity is made : you need not 'be bothered' with that. You see that wire leading from the generator. That is the wire that conducts the electricity to the out-out (I will tell you about the cut-out presently.) From the cut-out the wire goes on to the ammeter (about which also I will tell you more presently), from that to the switch, from that
to the battery. So the current gets home.. It is your first business to see that it really does get home.
178. The Battery. •
" Why ? Because the battery is the source of all your electric power for self-starting arid for lighting. You can also use its current for ignition, if you so please. Your first duty, therefore, is to see that the battery is kept up to its work—fully Charged. Hew are you to know ? "There are two-.ways of checking up the battery. First, you have to see that the generator is really delivering current, and, secondly, you have to see that the battery ife.ke•eping it when it has got it.
179. The Ammeter.
"Taking, now the ammeter, this tells you whether the generator is delivering electricity towards the battery. (If everything is in order, the electricity delivered by the generator will not only get towards— it will get to the battery. You may take it for granted that, if the ammeter registers properly, the electricity is getting to the battery all right.) Whenever the engine is running at a speed of, say, 15 miles an hour, the ammeter should show a charge' reading of 10-12. (The charge' side of the ammeter is its right-hand side.) The ammeter indicates by •the movement of its needle or pointer. Even when the lights are burning, a 15 miles an hour speed should show 10-12 on the 'charge' side. By' 15 miles an hour' I do not mean that the van must be running at that spiced: I only mean that the engine must be running at a speed that
would give you 15 miles an hour if the van were actually running. Drive the engine at that rite—whether in the garage Or on the road---and you will be charging your battery. Unless you do so charge your battery, your self-starter is bound to strike and your lights will fail you.
180. The Voltage Test.
"But it does not by any means, follow that, because your ammeter reading is satisfactory, therefore your battery is well charged. For instance, if your van stands unused for a long time, or if you only run it for short spells occasionally, your battery will tend to run down—to leak its electricity. And there is always just the bare possibility (though it does not amount to much) that the ammeter may point to ' charge ' when the electricity is not getting through from generator to battery. Therefore, you want to test your battery regularly to be sure that it is being kept up to concert pitch. "There are two ways of making the battery test. The first way is by a voltmeter.
Using the Voltmeter.
"A voltmeter ig an instrument for telling you the voltage of a battery. What is voltage.? Perhaps the best idea that can be given of veltage is to describe it as electrical pressure. You may think of it., if you like, as electrical vim, buck, spite, devil.You want at least 6 volts in the Ford battery—whichis an excellent battery—an Exide.
" A voltmeter will tell you whether the voltage is 'up.' You make the test as shown in the illustration. You apply one point (or 'pole ') of the voltmeter to one pole (or terminal) of the battery and the other point to the other pole of the battery. The voltmeter needle will then swing: and it should swing to indicate 6 volts or slightly more, if it is up to its job. If it is not, run the engine (at the speed mentioned above or more) till the voltage is up to 6 or more. You cannot get it much higher than 6, however long you run the engine ; and it. is no good running the engine very fast with the idea of cramming electricity into the bat
tery quickly, because, however fast you the engine .-above a certain point—you will not get any more electricity into the battery. Fast running—racingis bad for the engine and does no good to the battery.
"If you buy a voltmeter (they do not give you one in the kit), buy one that will register over 6 volts. (Some voltmeters only show 4 or a little over.)
"But I do not recommend your buying a voltmeter, because there is a better test than the voltmeter test. Truth to tell, the voltmeter does not always tell the truth. A _voltmeter reading is apt to be jumpy : that is to say, the voltmeter tells you one thing now and another thing a. few minutes later. Better rely on the hydrometer test.
181. The Hydrometer Test.
"Never heard of a. hydrometer ? Do not know how to use it? It is quite a simple thing ; and it is quite simple to use it. A hydrometer is an instrument for telling you the density of liquids. You know that if you float a cork in quicksilver it will stand well out of
it, and that if you float it in petrol it will sink well into it. A cork is a rough and ready hydrometer, but it will not do for our purposes, because it is not accurate enough. "What you want to know is the density of the liquid in the battery—the electrolyte, as it is called. That electrolyte consists of a mixture of sulphuric acid and water (but do not try to mix it for yourself—at all events yet). The density (or specific gravity) of the liquid varies for two reasons. If the liquid contains too much sulphuric acid the density increases—that is, the liquid becomes comparatively heavy; and as the battery gets fully charged the liquid also becomes comparatively heav y. The ' difference is small, but it is all-important for our purposes. " The hydrometer that I refer to is a pretty piece of work. (It is not supplied in your kit ; you will have to buy one. It can be bought for about 10s. of the Chloride Electrical Storage (Jo. Ltd., A hydro220, Shaftesbury Avenue, use testing W .0. 2, and Clifton Juneof the acid tion. Manchester—t h e
makers of the Exide bat tery.) It consists of an miter glass casing—not unlike a big fountain-pen filler —with a squeegee bulb at the top, and has, inside the casing, the hydrometer proper.
"To use the hydrometer, you remove one of the battery filler caps by giving it a quarter turn. You then insert the nozzle of the hydrometer into the opening, squeeze the bulb," and thus suck up enough of the electrolyte or battery liquid to float the hydrometer bulb inside—to float it well clear of the bottom. You then remove the hydrometer, and, holdiog it straight upright, you note the point at which the little bulb floats on the level of the top of the liquid. The hydrometer bulb has a scale on it, and you note what degree of the scale stands flush with the top of the liquid. The reading, if the battery is fully charged, will be from 1.275 to 1.300. If the battery is only half-charged the reading will be between 1.2.25 and 1.250. If the reading is as high as 1.275-1.300 be well satisfied with the condition of the battery. If it is as low as L2251.250 run the engine at a 15-mile-an-hour speed till the reading rises to at least 1.275. If it is below 1.225 I am afraid that it is not of much use your trying to get the reading up by running the engine. Take the battery at once to an electrician and get him to recharge it. You have let the battery get to far run down for you to do any geed. You must not do that.
"Return to the battery the liquid that pit' used in the hydrometer test, and return it to the same cell as you took it from—in other words, squirt it back through the same opening.
182. The Cut Out.
"On no account tinker with this. Leave it just as it is. I mention it only because I want to tell you a rather interesting thing about it. It is where it is to prevent the battery running itself down when the engine (and therefore the generator) are at rest. It prevents-the current flowing backwards, in other words. If it were not for the cut-out the current would all flow backwards out of the battery to the generator whenever the engine stopped. That would ruin both the battery and the generator."
More next time
For DRIVERS, MECHANICS & FOREMEN.
A PRIZE OF TEN SHILLINGS is awarded each week to the sender of the best letter which we publish on this page ; all others are paid for at the rate of a penny a line, with an allowance for photographs. All notes are edited before being published. Mention your employer's name, in confidence, as evidence of good faith, Address, D., M. and F., "The Commercial Motor," 7-15, Rosebery Avenue, London, EX. 1.
Lamps Alight.
On Saturday, January 17th, light your lamps at 5.1 in London, 4.52 in Edinburgh, 4.50 in Newcastle, 5_5 in Liverpool, 5.5 in Birmingham, 5.11 in Bristol, and 5.48 in Dublin,
Gearbox Design.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 10s. prise this week,. • [2048] "II. M." (West Bromwich) writes : —" I often think it would do good to the designers of many of our motor vehicles ;If they were to spend .a few months in the repair shop, particularly one like that in which I work most of my time, where they could see not only the problems which confront the repairer of the machines for the design of which he was re
sponsible, but might gain an insight into the difficulties which the repair man eneounters every day of his life, most of which difficulties could be obviated if a little more thought were devoted to the repair question while the design of the car was being considered.
" It is in gearboxes that the biggest mistakes ip design appear to be made, at least that is so when the matter is considered from the point of view of the man who has to effect the repairs. I have come across a good many cases of the kind myself. Perhaps the most flagrant is one in whichno fewer than live gearwheels were formed in one with the shaft, with the result that, when one of them stripped, as it might have been expected to do, particularly in view of the peculiarity of the design, the whole shaft and the five extra gratis had to be renewed, at a cost of about six or eight times the amount which ought to have been necessary.
"In another instance a 'more economical method of carrying out the repair was possible and was adopted as shown in the enclosed S.keteh [which we have had so-drawn—ED.]. In this case the gear which stripped was one of two which were in one niece. The part was the sliding gear of an old type of car, the proprietor of which was not inclined to go to any considerable expense in having it repaired at all. f repaired this by turning off the rim of the wheel altogether and bolted a new rim to the existing boss. The result was, of course, satisfactory, but .j, am at a loss to know why the construction rendered necessary by the repair was not adopted in the first instance."
Some Sentinel Suggestions.
[2049] " C.H.E." (Oldham) writes :—" Having had four years' continuous experience of Sentinel wagons, both at home and in France, I should like, if I may, to reply to the criticisms of that make of wagon which appeared in your " D.M. and F." page in the issue of The Commercial Motor dated December 16th, 1919.
" First, as regards the position of the oil delivery pipe. Surely the remedy put forward by 'G.M.' is worse than the disease which it is intended to cure. Unless the oil supply is excessive very littletof it can find its way into the boiler. On the other Hand, since the temperature of the superheated steam is well over 500 degrees Fahrenheit, the absence of oil in the steam supply valve to the injectors, and in the injector itself, must be very injurious to the spindles, valves, and packing of those components. However, I understand the makers have now overcome the objections put forward by your correspondent by arranging that the steam supply for these purposes is drawn from the boiler direct, superheated steam not being used.
"With regard to the suggested alteration to the feed-water heater, while G.M.'s ' plan would undoubtedly make the coil more accessible, it would at the same time mar what is a neat arrangement, and, as this very useful fitting gives very little trouble, I think the maker's plan is the better of the two.
" I am in entire agreement with G.M,' as regards the arrangement of the frame. At present it is difficult to get at many of the nuts or bolts holding the various fittings in place. Moreover, the suggested alteration would have the effect of making it easier to examine the bolts and nuts from time to time to ascertain if any of them were slack.
"While being able to lower the firebars horizontally as a whole would no doubt allow the clinker to be removed without losing too much fire, the design would be considerably complicated thereby. Moreover, the combined weight of the &chars. fire, and fuel, and the fact fliat pieces of coke would be sure to get in the way between the firebars and the bottom of the boiler, would make it difficult to
return the firebars to their place afterwards. I think if G.M. will work his fire fairly low, then lower the front bar and draw the clinker to the front of the firebox, he will find that with care he can lift the clinker and throw most of his fire on the back bars. After he has clinkered out, he can easily spread the fire again by using the pricker underneath the grate. If he then builds the fire up again using the blower gently, he will find that very little time need belost.
"Now for some suggestions of my own. I should like to see some type of lubricator fitted by which the chain could be kept continually oiled. I think that about a pint of oil per hundred miles would be sufficient for the purpose. "I think a chain guard of flexible mateasial, in stead of the sheet metal which is at present standard, would be an improvement. The metal one is rather liable to be. easily damaged when the wagon is traversing rough or stony roads."