Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-01-20

In strong contrast witt conditions
In other years. the electrical system
OF the motor will show but few
changes In the. models TO be exhibited
at the coming Automobile Show at
Grand Central Palace. according To a.
Ludlow Clayden, in The Automobile.
There has been no really large
change in the design OF lighting, start
ing and ignition apparatus during the
year Of 1916" says Mr.. Clayden
Every trend seen last year 10 seen
again at prcsen' The starting motor
itself Is almost eliminated from this
discussion because II Is so extremely
simple Athat changes in its electrical
makeNp5are unthinkable.
? 3ss-Tbe generator Is becoming a bet.
ter manufacturing proposition as the
different big producers tool up for
more and more each. of a decreasing
number OF models, for the innumer-
able patterns and designs each "spe-
cial" in some way that the leaders OF
the industry were being forced to
make two years ago, have been cut
down and down again till unreason-
able notifications are a minimum.
The time Is not far off when the gen.
orator business will be as standardized
as carburetor manufacture.
Some OF the largest makers very
wisely have been making machines OF
several different electrical systems.
These they have sold In thousands
and they have their records in ser
vice. In this way the most reliable
out OF two or three systems Is quick
Iy discovered, and a firm can con-
eentrate on one system without any
fear that they may not have made
the best choice. The mere matter Of
size OF generator had to be settled by
time and experience, and we can see
now that many machines being made
two years ago were larger and heavier
than they needed to have been. We
have arrived at the lightweight gen.
orator by a series of successive, easy
stage reductions In dimensions. The
substitution OF press work and stamp.
ed parts for casting and forgings has
enabled pounds Of weight to be saved,
but Il has taken time to obtain and
install the necessary presses, so here
again a tendency observed last year
Is seen Intensified at the present time.
TWo-Unlt System Almost Universal
lit has become an accepted fact
now that there are limits of rotative
speed beyond which Il is uneconomi-
cal to drive an armature, SO this prac-
tically confines the single unit dyna.
motor with q constant gear connection
with the crankshaft to fairly slow
speed engines. In cases where the en-
CINE runs upward OF 1000. r. p. m. it is
rare to find anything except two-unit
systems, excepting those few single
units which have one connection TO
the crankshaft while being driven and
another OF lower ratio when operating
as the starting motor.
aThe trend toward unit assemblies
OF generators with ignition distrihu.
tors IS very marked this year. Not
only does this eliminate one Of the
drives from the engine, but with nor
NAL sort OF generator location 1t
usually brings the distributor into a
position somewhere nearly midway OF
the cylinders, so that the high ten
sion leads to the spark plugs can be
short and direct There Is another
small advantage, in that the timing
can usually be made very exact, be-
Cau6C Inc BltCu VI SuC AAuC SSCeh "
the bevel or spiral gear drive for the
vertical shaft win differ from that Of
the front end gear, thus offering q
chance for sort of differential set
ting. ia. T.
"The manufacturers of generators
do not appear to have any preference
with respect to the location Of the
ignition distributor The demand for
combining II with the generator ap-
pears to have come from the automo-
bile manufacturer, and II depends
upon him whether this viii be the
most common type In the future.
One tendency with respect to ignition
units Is worth noting. Two years ago
number CT generators were being put
out with the ignition breaker and dis.
trfbtuor mounted on the end aud APP
pearing from the outside almost exact
Nv the same as magnetic distributor.