Contributions from Drivers and Mechanics.
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TEN SHILLINGS WEEKLY for the Best Communication Received, and One Penny a Line of ten words for any thing else published,
Drivers of commercial-motor vehicles and tractors, and mechanics and foremen of garagys or shops, are invited to send short contrtbutions on any .subject which is likely to prove of interest to our readers. Workshop tips and smart repairs; long and successful runs ; interesting photogralhs : all are suitable subjects. Send a post-card, or a letter, or a sketch to us—no matter how short, or how written, or how worded. We will "knock it into shape" and prepare sketches, where necessary, before publication. The absence of a sketch does md disqualify for a prize. When writing itse one side of the paper only and mention your employer's name as a guarantee of bona fides. Neither your own riGY your employer's name will be disclosed. Payment will be made immediatety after publication. Address your letters to 1 he Editor, THE CommExcIAL Moron, 7 15, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.C.
A Disabled Forecarriage.
[621] " F.E.G." (Wakefield) describes a repair to the foreearriage swivel bracket on his steam wagon :—" I am sending you an account of a breakdown and its remedy, of which I had experience a few weeks back. I was travelling along a very rough road, when the forecarriage swivel bracket on my steam wagon broke in two places. As it was very important that I should get to my destination with as little delay as possible, it was necessary that I should make a patch of some sort or other, on the road, in order to get through. I had a piece of iron plate 8 in. square, and two in. bolts 8 in. long, with me on the wagon, and I managed to procure two pieces of iron A in. by 1 in. by 6 in., and, in each of these, I put two
in. holes 4i in. apart. I bent the plate in such a manner that I was able to place it at the bottom of the bracket so as to hold the bolts in position. I then put one piece of iron on each side of the bracket and tightened the whole lot with the bolts. This made quite a strong job, and I was able to get along with a comparatively short delay. Considering the serious nature of the breakdown, I do not think I got out of the difficulty badly."
Accumulator Upkeep.
The sender of the following communication has been awarded the 10s. prize this week.
C221 " N.C." (Batley) submits the following notes upon the maintenance and repair of accumulators:—
Having studied the Drivers' and Mechanics" columns of the CAI.' for some time past, T have not noticed any contribution with regard to the repair of accumulators; I, therefore, hope these few lines may prove acceptable for publication.
" Perhaps the most frequent troubles with accumu biters, which are used for automobile work, are leaky cases and broken lugs. With reference to the former mishap, it is certain that this is responsible for a lot of minor battery ailments.' It is not generally known that, if one cell leaks into another, the resulting pressure is only two volts at the terminals, instead of four ; although the battery may be full of acid, no amount of charging will snake it give full voltage. If a cell seems perfect, and yet, after it has been filled with fresh acid, It will not give its full voltage, tests should be made for leaks, by filling up one-half of the battery and leaving the other half empty. It is, generally, on the outside that a cell leaks, and such a fault may easily be found; it may be repaired with a piece of celluloid and a cement made as follows :—Procure some pieces of scrap celluloid and dissolve them in some acetone, until the solution is about the thickness of treacle. The acetone can be obtained at most chemists; it takes about 24 hours to dissolve properly. To repair a. leaky cell, it is only necessary to scrape the broken part clean, after the acid has been emptied out. The new patch soon dries, and the battery can be charged up in an hour, or even less, if it is urgently required. If the leak be at a corner, it is best to use an angle piece, which can be made by forming the celluloid over a square piece of wood, after the former has been softened in hot water.
" If a lug be broken, the necessary repair is a more difficult matter, but it can be done quite easily, if the job is gone about in the right way. The necessary equipment consists of a box of brassfounder's sand, a small blowpipe, a strip of lead and a bit of resin. Suppose that one of a pair of plates be broken, as is shown in the sketch. [We have re-drawn this.—En.] Serape the lead clean well around the fracture, slightly damp the sand and bed the plates well in, leaving the convenient space just around the joint as shown. Heat up the exposed parts with the blowpipe, using a small flame only. When the load is just beginning to melt, feed the crack with the lead strip and sprinkle with resin. [Resin should not be necessary with new metal.—En.] When the metal is running freely, stir it with an iron wire, keeping it hot, meanwhile, with the blowpipe until it is thoroughly run together. When the joint has cooled down, file it up and a perfect joint will be the result. " A cell that is badly sulphated, that is to say, one in which the plates have become covered with a hard white substance, should have the plates taken out and scraped with a knife, until all the white substance has been removed. They should be swilled, all the time they are being scraped, with clean water. When this has been done they may be replaced in the cells, which should then be filled up with acid. After a few chargings and diachargings, preferably at a low rate, the battery will be found to be as good as new. "If, as it often the case when a cell has been shorted, the paste is dropping out of the positive plates, they may be repasted as follows :—Dig out all the old paste with the point of a knife, then get some good red lead and some sulphuric acid, that has not been diluted. Mix the red lead into a strong paste with the acid, until it becomes a dull red mass, which is almost dry. Be careful not to leave it too wet. Place the now-empty grid on a flat board or, better still, on a piece of glass, and press the paste well in, using a flat piece of wood like a dinner knife. When quite full, slide the plate off—do not lift it—and turn it over. Then fill the empty places on the other ale and slide it off again, leaving it to dry for a whole day, at least. Afterwards form the plate in a strong solution of chloride of lime in water, and then, for a quarter of an hour, swill the finished plate well in water and charge up, in the usual way."
A Bent Eccentric Rod ; he Could Not Reverse.
[623] " W.K." (Herts.) submits the following communication for inclusion in these columns.—" With reference to the tip from J.H.' (Lewisham) [Letter No. 614, published in our issue for 18th November.—En.] with regard to the coating of leaky steam cocks with indiarubber, I wonder if he has ever tried running tallow and blackleml together and rubbing it over the faulty gauge cock or cylinder tap. I think he would find this much better than indiarubber, because he could open the cocks, whether they were hot or cold; the tallow would keep them free, and the blacklead would stop any small blowing. I have found this to be a useful method.
"A useful tip to a number of your readers might be taken from an experience of mine, some little while back. While we were on the road a good deal, late at night, recently, the left-hand eccentric of my engine ran hot. seized up and bent the bottom rod. We did not want to stop on the road all night, and we were nowhere near a smithy, so we had a shot at 'patching up' ourselves. What we did was to dismantle the damaged rod and to tie the bottom of the link down to the bottom of the rocking shaft, in such a way that sufficient travel was still allowed for the valve rod. We were rather fortunate in getting in at our destination. We had plenty of room to pull straight in. This was lucky as, of course, we could not reverse, 140 that shunting was impossible."
A Lost Catch-pin.
[624] " A.G." (Slindon) writes to us as follows :—" I am working on an estate at Slindon, near Arundel, and am there driving a tractor.
" On 12th October, I had to go from Slindon to Churt, near Farnham, for a load of furniture. I started on my return journey about nine o'clock at night, when, of course, it was quite dark. I did not notice, until I got to Petworth, that I had lost the catch out of the winding drum, and as this would have worn the bearing badly if it did not go round with the axle, I had to devise some means to fix it, and this I did, quite satisfactorily and simply, by means of a piece of wood, which 1 roughly shaped and drove into the drum; in this way I got home quite well. I then procured a piece of good oak, and cut it so as to fit correctly, and drove it in tight in place of the temporary plug. I was then able to keep at work until I could get a proper catch-pin made.
" On 20th October, I had to go to Chichester with six yards of sand. When I tried to start on the slow gear, I found that I could make no headway, as the ground was so very soft. The consequence was that I had to use my winding gear, and, although I had still got the piece of wood in position, I managed to haul out on to solid ground without any trouble, and then, of course, coupled up to my load and went on all right. There is nothing very remarkable in the making of this temporary plug, but I think it is useful to know that a piece of hard wood driven in—a fairly good fit—suffices to take the place of a lost metal pin, for the time being."