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Re: [Fot] Lucas 2-speed windscreen wiper switch

To: <BillDentin@aol.com>, <Billb@bnj.com>, <tlizzard@msn.com>
Subject: Re: [Fot] Lucas 2-speed windscreen wiper switch
From: "Tim Murphy" <timmurph@fastbytes.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 11:44:38 -0500
Having worked with both hydraulic and electric servo motors on machine tools 
I can tell you that when the electrons and smoke leak out of the wires they 
make a hell of a lot less mess than when a 2000 PSI hydraulic line breaks 
(especially if it is a vertical line and the break is pointed up!  Guess how 
I know that.).  Although when the 440 Volt input power to the electrics 
short, it is impressive as hell.

Tim Murph
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <BillDentin@aol.com>
To: <Billb@bnj.com>; <tlizzard@msn.com>
Cc: <fot@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 9:00 AM
Subject: Re: [Fot] Lucas 2-speed windscreen wiper switch


> In a message dated 04/03/2008 6:57:23 PM Central Standard Time, 
> Billb@bnj.com
> writes:
>
>
>> Lucas was way ahead of their time in electronics. Diane's car has a rain
>> detection system that automatically turns the wipers on when the 
>> windscreen
>> gets wet, and turns them off when it's dry. Lucas had this at least forty 
>> years
>> ago, except it worked the other way around.
>
> Amici...
>
> The current (May) issue of Triumph World has an interesting article by 
> Paul
> Richardson telling about Jack Bough, who apparently was with Lucas in 
> general,
> and their competition department in particular for many, many years.  He 
> often
> had occasion to work with Paul's dad Ken (with Triumph and the V16 BRM). 
> The
> article suggests the title 'Prince of Darkness' was originally assigned to
> Bough and other Lucas reps the result of a clitch in the mid-1950s 
> involving
> Triumph Speed Twin and Bonneville motorcycles.  Paul says because a myriad 
> of
> electrical add ons were coming into vogue at the time, Lucas designed a 
> pancake
> alternator whereby the winding housing was bolted to the chaincase and the
> magnetic rotor was bolted to the end of the crankshaft (running at engine 
> speed).
> It worked fine in England and Europe, where there were relatively few long
> straight roads, but not here in the USA on our long interstate highways. 
> Over
> here headlight bulbs would consistently blow because of excessive voltage.
> There was no immediate cure, and bikers here were taping flashlights to 
> the
> handlebars.  Hence the 'Prince of Darkness' moniker for our friends at 
> Lucas.
>
> Nobody enjoys a joke more than I do, and Prince of Darkness and other 
> Lucas
> humor can be a lot of fun.  But I can remember being at more than one 
> Triumph
> event where a Lucas representative was a guest speaker, and the 'fun' got 
> out
> of hand.  We were not kind to our guests.  Lucas has, in fact, been on the
> cutting edge with many new electrical ideas, particularly in aircraft and 
> space
> efforts.
>
> It's been my experience that if you can just keep the smoke inside the 
> wires,
> everything works fine.
>
> Bill Dentinger
>
>
>
> **************
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>
>
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