El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-02-09
r kOUBLh' in the starting and

~ KOUBLE in the starting and
lighting system is something that
fills the soul of the average car
owner with dread. Yet = careful look
at the wiring diagram OF his car will
serve to unraveI most difficulties.
especially If he understands a few
basic principles. which we purpose ex-
planning in this story.
The electric starting and lighting
system Of the car usually consists Of
a generator and starting motor. either
separate or included in a single unit.
a storage battery. which Is charged
by the generator and then feeds its
current to the starting motor and to
the lamps. Then there is a cut-Out,
which connects and disconnects the
generator to or from the battery
at slow engine speeds. and there Is
also a device to regulate the charg-
ing rate. to conform to the service
usually demanded Of the car. These,
with the various wires, switches,
lamps. etc, complete the system
To begin with. there is mounted on
the dash Of the modern car a meter
Of some type to register the charge
and discharge OF the battery. so that
he driver can tell how the starting
and lighting system is functioning.
When the starting pedal IS depressed.
the meter begins to register dis
charge, because the battery Is being
drawn upon for current to turn the
starting motor over Sometimes the
meter gets out of order. When the
motor Is not running and when the
lights are not burning. the hand of
the meter should register zero II It
does not 50 register, the hand Is bent.
be weak or the return spring may not
be strong enough. II the error is
more than a trifling one, the meter
should be inspected internally. Vi
bration ana excessive voltage some
times caCse arrangement in these
meters and in this case the car owner
had better take the instrument to
the service station
II is not often thai mechanical
troubles afflict the starting and light
ing system. Wear IN the bearings Of
the generator ans starting motor Is
the commonest mechap'cal i'll Some
times there Is trouble in the linkage
or in the gearing and in the mechan-
ical governor With these troubles
TIE car owner can CT pc just as easily
as those in other parts OF the mechan-
Ism.
Electrical troubles. obviously. are
among the commonest that occur in
this system and they are mostly
caused by open circuits or shorts. IT.
the former case there viii be no flow
OF current at all. while in the latter
the flow win be II the wrong direc-
ton. whereby the actual work of the
system is Sighted as when one IN
covered wire touches another on a
different circuit
It Is necessary to Inspect the entire
wiring system at frequent intervals.
because open circuits and shorts are
likely TO occur at any time. The
chatting through Of the Insulation OF
a wire Is enough to prevent the cur
rent from flowing TO the place where
Il is needed Constant vigilance Is
the price of starting and lighting ef-
ficiency-
There are two methods OF running
rhe wires from the battery to the
lamps. etc. known respectively as sin
gle and double wiring. In the double
system two wires are used, one TO
carry the current 70 its place where
it Is needed and another to bring It
hack to the battery. In the single