OPINIONS FROM OTHERS.
Page 69
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The Editor invites correspondence on all subjects connected with the use of commercial motors. Letters should be en one side of the paper only and, preferably, typewritten. The right of abbreviation is reserved, and no responsibility forviews expressed is accepted.
The Dazzle Nuisance.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[2663] Sir,—I have read in your paper about dazzling headlights, and I suppose when next winter draws near someone will again have something to say on the matter ; but I have not yet seen any improvement. What about dazzling sidelights?
No one seems to say anything about them, but they are almost as big a nuisance as headlights. When one switches one's headlights off and meets a sidelight with a bulb up to 313 watts with a good reflector behind it, there is not much chance of seeing anything beyond.
I have also met buses with sidelights at the top of the vehicle. What use they are, except for dazzling, no one knows. Personally, I use a 10-watt bus bulb (frosted) in my side lamps and have one of my headlamps dipped and turned so that it shines on the gutter, and I can get through any dazzling light.
I wish to bring to your notice a scheme which I think will do away with dazzle in future, but it will require the aid of the Government to bring it into force. Here is the scheme, to commence in 1229
(a) All future motor vehicles to have dipping headlights, whilst their sidelightsshall be on mudguards or in line with the radiator, but no higher than if placed on mudguards ; they shall have a permanent dip, the angle of dip to be determined by experiment.
(b) All vehicles at present in use to alter sidelights to permanent dip (latims to remain where they are already fixed, except those that are at the top of a vehicle, which shall be moved to a more practical position).
(c) All fixed headlights to be switched off when meeting a vehicle with dipping headlights, under penalty of a fine. (I find that I can see the road all right when meeting dipping headlights with mine switched off.) (d) All motorcycles to have dipping lights or lights with permanent dip.
(e) All bicycles to have lamps with permanent dip if the light be stronger than that given by oil lamps.
(f) All fancy sidelights to be abolished. I think that if the above were carried out dazzling Would be a thing of the past.—Yours faithfully, Floyland Common. FRANK REELEY. Starting Heavy Engines in Cold Weather.
The Editor, THE COMM:I/CIA'. MOTOR.
. .
[2664] Sir,—Your decision to deal fully with the starting problem of heavy-type engines will be welcomed by all your readers engaged in heavy transport by petrol lorry, as, although magnetos and carburetters have improved in late years, many lorry drivers are troubled with the bugbear of heavy swinging.
At this period of the year and with fuels that vary in their composition it often takes more vitality out of a man than a steady two hours' work. Our experience covers several makes of subsidy lorry, mostly ex-W.D., in an open and unheated garage. Each make has been found to respond to a different method. With the R.A.F. Leyland and the Y-type and CC-type Daimlers, the final dose of paraffin at night is very effective, and covering in the engine as well as the bonnet in order to prevent the mass of metal getting right cold helps a great deal. In the case of an obstinate engine it is good policy to suspect the magneto. (This is partly borne out by the fact that the carburetter firms, when testing for consumption, etc., always check the functioning of the magneto.) Given a good spark and the plugs being clean, with the plug points correctly set (this latter being important), the engine should respond to the first swing up. It is a reflection on the fleet engineer to see men winding and winding and still no kick.
Of course, one finds the driver who has retarded the ignition to the point where there is no effective spark, or, again, the man who does not realize that he is attempting the impossible by having the throttle lever set so that the main jet is uncovered and he is winding at the speed where the engine would 'start immediately on the pilot or corppensat6r. A mistake made by quite old hands is in the doping, their idea being to give the engine plenty, resulting in saturating the valve ports and plugs with wet petrol, whereas the aim should be to give the engine the least possible amount on which it will start. Another bugbear is the small and fiddling starting handle fitted, especially to some American trucks. One of the best forms of handle is the Associated Daimler ; this has room for an extra man when
required.—Yours faithfully, G. MOORE. Eastbourne.