Renault TSF – Battery Selection - Inside Track | Renault TSF Tank Kent

We know from the Composition du Poste de T.S.F a Ondes Autretennes type E10 ter radio equipment list for the E10 ter exactly what voltage batteries are required. It lists a 40 volt pile, a 6 volt 60 amp hours accumulateur (battery) and a very large 20 volt 150 amp hour battery. A number of publications or catalogues from just after the war (1922 to 1929 exist) but none of the given dimensions in the listings correspond with any of the dimensions extracted from the Renault TSF side section schematic provided by the Loading Plan manual of the period. We have noticed a number of size differences in batteries between the different battery manufacturers. The obvious amp hour differences lead to differences in battery size but width and height appear to be constant within a supplier like Dinin for example. There are distinct size differences in the same supplier over time. The invaluable publication Encyclopedie d’ Electricite’ Industrielle Piles Primaires et Accumulateurs Paris1925 provided the breakthrough for us as it explained how these various systems worked and in which sector of the economy, described and compared the various manufacturers and their products and provided us with an historical view of these various batteries. What became very obvious to us in researching these various batteries was how they changed over time as the design and efficiency improved. The height of a pile almost halved from the wartime period to 1929 for example. This gave us some comfort as the battery sizes listed in the TSF schematic bore no resemblance to any listed in the mid to late 1930s catalogues. Even the 1922 Dinin 6 volt battery appeared different from the wartime equivalent – the casing was made of a cast rubber compound a far cry from the wooden boxes of yesteryear. We reverse engineered the proportional battery sizes in the schematic to the known dimensions of the ondemeter (wave meter) and the E10 ter radio. The ondemeter and E10 ter radio sets were in perfect proportion to each other so the dimensions on the batteries looked promising i.e we could calculate them with ease. The problems were:. 1. The 6 volt battery was positioned end on in the schematic. The width and the height could be calculated but the length could not. We would have to look elsewhere for this. Luckily the catalogues provided many possibilities for this voltage battery so we selected a match very near to the known height and width of a good wooden battery box in good detail from a well know supplier still around today - S.A.F.T. This battery from S.A.F.T is perforated in all the right places as it is a TSF designated battery. What was more we had a listing of all the S.A.F.T TSF batteries (including this example) available with their dimensions The only other time we had seen a dedicated TSF battery box was in a wartime advert for Dinin batteries being used by French soldiers in a trench. 2. The 40 volt pile was straight forward but seemed to be very high to other known pile dimensions – a 1929 listing for a Hydra pile was only 100mm high – possibly double the height! The length to height calculated was very different to 1929 alternatives so we stayed with the original calculated height and elected to take the unknown width from a later high amp hour range of alternatives. This will not only have the correct height but will have a wider base to avoid toppling over too easily. It has a unique brand name on the exterior which will lend itself very well to the look and feel of a genuine Renault TSF from 1918. 3. The 20 volt battery had the large amp hour requirement and nothing was listed commercially for this but we knew the heights for Dinin batteries were fairly constant at that time which corresponded to the drawing. We also knew from the early listings in the Encyclopedie how amp hour requirements changed the lengths of the battery cases as each cell represented between 1.8 to 2.4 volts and how many would be required for a 20 volt battery. The calculation was compared to listings for 20 volt amp hour batteries and a decision was made. The length of the case would have to be under 750mm in length. 700mm was a problem as the space in the floor between the bulkheads would only allow a 650mm long case. The battery used could not have been an off the shelf commercially available product – a special order….

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