The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-05-20
TAKES UP MATTER
Of SELF.STARTER
EXPERT DISCUSSES THIS DEVICE
FROM VARIOUS ANGLES AND
VIEWS.
GIVES BRIEF HISTORY
Temperatures AND WEATHER
CONDITIONS HAVE MUCH TO
DO WITH ITs
sEFFICIENt
GIVES BRIEF HISTORY
~ shannon .. Lees Of the
Motor Car Company,

By shannon q. Lees, of the Jones
Motor Car COMPANY
one of the earliest forms Of self
starters on the market was the Spr'ne
Motor starter There are still scVeral
in use today. and While they have the
advantage Of being able to crank Is
motor no matter I'm what position II
has stopped they are all limited 10 q
small number Of turns and are SIS a
rule heavy. and not easily attached
t. car
Air starters in recent years have
been tried out thoroughly, They are
Of two classes. those that make use or
an air motor for turning the engine
and those that make an air engine out
Of the gasoline engine. They are ali
subject to the great difficulty of storing
air under pressure and maintaining H.
There are no air starters up-to-date
that have been successful in using an
airpump, due to the fact and in the
course Of a short time they get out or
order and become noisy and really
cause more trouble than the motor IT.
self The result is that other methods
of storing air ere being used. sncn
as taking a small part of the explosion
pressure from one or more of the cylln'
ders and storing it. While still an
other scheme is In the nature OF Il
compression pump which depends on
the explosive pressure for power OH
a differential. the smaller pumping
pure air.
IT is not possible for either of these
devices To obtain sufficient air pres
sure to operate the starter unless the
motor ia working hard It would not
be practical with this device to make
e shopping trio and stop every four or
five blocks and use the air fer starting
as sufficient pressure could not be
stored in such II short run. Ia order
to get the pressure required to operate
startcr Of this nature, which re-
quires at least l25 pounds pressure IL
would require a very heavy pull or
very hard work on the part of the
motor
Leakage Is an ever present fault of
any compressed air system. and IL
lakes q very tight tank to hold air
pressure Tor . long time. and it's dis
advantages are added to, due to the
fact that tine expanding air entering
The cylinders has "a chilling effect upon
thes cylinder walls with the result that
when tho gasoline Vapor enters ond
strikes The walls 1t tends to condenso
md reduce very materially the chances
of being exploded,
The best air starters on the market
do not rotate an engine over thirty
or forty turns. which reduces the effl-
! cheney tof the Apparatus especially
in cold weather,
Nor ts thic class of starter able to
crank the engine when II stops on CEN
ter,
Another type of starter is that which
employs ncctNlene gas, which Is prob
ably the lishtest and cheapest starter
on the market, against these advan-
tases. may be urged the difficulties of
supplying the proper amount of gas
from n tank OF varying pressure with
out a reducing valve and the trouble
experienced IN making q email reducing
valve operate reliably, especially after
being subjected to the 1olting II re-
celves ~ an automobile, eHerting N
sudden explosive force upon an mac
tive motor; in other words throwing
an explosive force of over two and
one half tons pressure upon n mechan-
, ism that is standing dead still which
can have but one result, that NJ loosen
ing the bearings of a motor and weak
enfns tire csita&er waltz ana piston
heads.
II too rich mixture is supplied With
this type of starter it speedily car
honiZes the plups. and both ignition
and valve troubles are likely to be
caused by this carbon which ts loosen
ed by the occasional dashes of acety-
lene which the cylinders invariably re-
ceive. Moreover some Of these starters
leak gas go fast that they quickly use
up full tank. which makes their use
expensive. No acetylene starter will
start "A stalled motor quickly nor wilt
it start u motor that has stopped on
dead center.
The electric starter is by far the
nearest approach to absolute reliable
ity In the starter field but being eX-
/. ms n g" itgy @so> Ia gareatt3sted the ever
fee low OF. moderate priced cars, ana
there can hardly be any question as
To the merits of this device. as 1t
comprises the following features which
other starters do not possess.
First IT starts the motor infalliably
under all conditions, temperature in
Guided
Second. 1t has power and endurance
enough TO start the motor even In the
coolest weather.
Third. II starts a stalled motor in
stantly.
Thig starter consists 81 Il compact
and powerful dynamo located alongside
and operated by the engine, the dyna-
mo charging storage battery. For
starting the DYNAMO Is automat ically
and temporarily transformed into II
motor. the current TO operate II being
supplied by the storage battery. This
automatically engages gear of the
electric motor with gear teeth In the
lily wheel. causing the latter to "turi,
over" AS soon as the engine com
lneuces tn run under It's own power. the
electric motor gear disengages its con-
nection with the fly wheel. and the
car Is ready to he driven. The electric
motor again becomes II dynamo or
generator. ana its energy is devoted to
charging the storage battery
This apparatus IS i'll some instances
made 10 furnish the ignition of the
ear as Well as furnish electricity foi
ttrc-ftEi1ting OF the car and fs thor
oughly reliable under all conditions. Ii
has been known 10 crank the motor OF
the car on which it was Installed for
-nNnr- an hour proving thereby ITS ETH
cheney in the coolest of weather, turn
ing tho engine over 5000 times
American League.