[LB015223], Letter from Thomas Alva Edison to Arnold Henry White, Edison Electric Light Co Ltd, February 1st, 1883
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Title
[LB015223], Letter from Thomas Alva Edison to Arnold Henry White, Edison Electric Light Co Ltd, February 1st, 1883
Editor's Notes
I am in receipt of your letters of 13th & 16th. January.##I am much obliged for your Report of Defects which I will see have careful attention. Many of the Defects you mention have already been rectified. The Switches that Mr Johnson will take with him to England overcome I think all the difficulties you complain of.##As to the trouble with the [Purmishs] of the lamp I am inclined to think the trouble must be with your Acorn Sockets (English make) as in process of manufacture has to be tested by a guage [six lamps] and is lighted in so doing. If the terminal was not of exactly the right size the lamp would not light and hence the trouble you complain of would be detected in our Factory. Will you kindly look into this matter again and advise me further.##As to the life of the lamps of course a great deal depends on whether they are run at their proper electro motive force. Most of the trouble here we find is caused by running them above their normal candle power. Your customers however should take the average life during the year and not on one particular lot of lamps as sometimes for reasons entirely unknown to us the life of our lamps will run down and again for reasons equally unknown we are able to turn out lamps of extraordinarily long life. We have noticed this at our Lamp Factory several times within the past year. For some time past the experience has been just the opposite to yours viz that the life of lamps has been [inexpicably] good, the reason being I presume that you are using lamps made at a different date to those now being used here.##With reference to the Armington & Sims Engines the A & S Co are now preparing a catalogue & as soon as it is ready we will send you one. Finding that for the present we can get along with only three A & S. engines in our Central Station (using & three Porter engines in conjunction therewith) I have arranged so that you can get such Armington engines as you may desire for your Holborn Viaduct Station, hence my cable to you of 30th uth confirmed elsewhere. I now find that it is necessary for you to have a [rug] bed plate for their engines and I accordingly cabled you to this affect this a.m. At our Central Station here the new Engine bedplates have been sent to the Station without any bolt holes we having found it far more convenient to bore the holes by hand after the arrival of the base at the Station in order to insure their being absolutely in the right place.##Your small engines are being pushed forward quickly. The first one although only ordered in Providence about four days ago is now on the dock in New York and will be shipped on S. S. leaving for London the day after tomorrow. The other three I shall make great efforts to ship within ten or fifteen days.##In your Storekeepers order 345 of 16th January 12 E. M. F. Indicators are asked for. As both myself & Mr Johnson think this must be an error I have only ordered two.##Please consult Mr Johnson on the various matters referred to in this letter as he can enter into far greater detail than is possible by letter.
Author
Mentioned
Date
1883-02-01
Type
Subject
Folder/Volume ID
LB015-F
Microfilm ID
82:113
Document ID
LB015223
Publisher
Thomas A. Edison Papers, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University