New-York tribune., 1917-12-02
How to Keep
Cars Lights
Burning Bright
Expert Advises Frequent
Inspection and Testing
Of System
By William II. Stewart, Jr.

Frequent inspection Of the lights and
lighting system is necessary Tss
lights themselves are easy enough ;,
take care cf, but the apparatus On
which they depend - complicated and
may easily get out OF order. So lesrs
the indications Of trouble and dev.lo,
a faculty for inspection IN order tia,
YOU mag readily note any ysristio,
from the usual conditions, and 80 ren.
edy the trouble before it becomes SER
Gus.
One should take each OF the dfer.n,
sized bulbs and make note Of "a.
candle power and voltage Of each an.
its location. The usual voltage is q
but two lamps arc sometimes used n
series. in which case they will b.
marked 80 volt. Do not confuse theu.
4 7-yolt lamp in place Of a 3.j.volt vii
net light properly. II 3.5-yolt lamp
is used where a 7-yolt lamp should b,
used it Vill burn brilliantly for a few
seconds and then burn out Note, slse,
whether the socket has a single Or
double contact. A double wire system
always has a double contact bulb, but il
does not follow that a single wire sys-
TEN always has a single contact bulb.
Some single wire systems use double
contact bulb, and ground the other
contact by means OF separate wire,
instead of through the lamp brscks,.
This has the advantage OF good
ground even in case the lamp come.
loose on the bracket. II il does cone
loose the lamp is apt TO flicker or isil
entirely 10 light.
Having classified the lamps accord.
ing 20 type (single or double contact,
voltage and location, procure a CON.
pletc extra set 10 guard against seci.
dents. II one burns out you are sure 10
have the right one to take its place.
Turn all the lights on and see ths.
each one is burning az full brillisney.
II one is at fault, replace II with q
new one. II il still does not burn a.
il should there must be a defeetiy.
contact or a bad wire leading 10 I.
/ lone perhaps with too high resist.
ancel. These troubles will occur
somewhere between the switch bloSk
and the base of the bulb. See that
/ contacts at base Of bulb and in socke.
are clean. that springs arc strong and
] also examine wires TO sec n ends arc
well secured, and IL there are any pos
sible short circuits along their length.
After satisfying yourself that lamps
are all burning as they should, deter.
mine how much current each group
is drawing. The switch probably reads
"side and rear" head and rear" AL
/ on "sll Off" Try each eombinstiou
and note the ammeter reading. Then
l single glance at the smmeter viii
tell you at any time IL the system .s
working properly. II il shows more
or less tnan the usual current con.
sumption you will know that soms.
thing is wrong. BY trying the differ.
ent combinations quite often one can
| tell on which set Of lamps the trouble
/ is located.
II all the lamps burn dimly, and %.
! pecially il the starting motor does tst
| crank the engine quickly or at all, ne
battery IS weak. Ii the lamps brighter
as speed Of engine increases and grow
dim as engine slows down, then, also
the battery is weak and the .generatol
alone is supplying them with current
/ Do not confuse this fluctuatlng effee
with what is called flicker" The lat
! ter is caused by a loose contact o
broken wire, which shakes apart will
the motion Of the engine. To dis
tinguish one from the other, stop IN
car and throttle down. II the light
brighten and dim rapidly irrespectiv'
i engine speed it is q flicker" esuset
by a loose contact. II the lights bun
steadily, hut dimly, and brighten a
the engine IS accelerated, II IS IN
fluctuation due to a weak battery.