This black and white film from the United Kingdom documents the manufacturing of Exide brand automotive batteries and most likely dates from the early 1950’s. You’ll see footage of batteries being built from start to finish, as well as the real-world applications of wet cell batteries in everyday life. Produced by World Wide Pictures, written by Stephen Clarkson and John Krish, produced by Hindle Edgar, directed by John Krish.

An automotive battery is a rechargeable battery that is used to start a motor vehicle. Its main purpose is to provide an electric current to the electric-powered starting motor, which in turn starts the chemically powered internal combustion engine that actually propels the vehicle. Early cars did not have batteries, as their electrical systems were limited. Car batteries became widely used around 1920 as cars became equipped with electric starter motors.

00:08 TITLE CARD. 00:58 Benjamin Franklin conducts the kite experiment 01:09 Alessandro Volta invents the voltaic pile 01:36 Gaston Planté invents the lead-acid battery 02:01 Battery case mounted on Rolls-Royce 10 hp automobile 02:22 City street and cars at night 02:35 Man rushes out of house, experiences car trouble 03:04 Man checks under bonnet (hood), calls garage 03:52 Cheap battery examined 04:26 Exide Batteries display 04:38 Exide Clifton Works outside Manchester, United Kingdom 04:55 Battery plates cast; ingots melted and poured into grid mold 06:29 Forklift moves grids to pasting shop 06:39 Gantry crane moves drums; man inspects lead mixing machines 07:14 Man sprays water onto shop floor 07:22 Man in respirator stirs paste; grids pass through pasting machine 08:19 Grids in drying oven 08:30 Grids moved to forming shop, inspected, placed in tanks 09:14 Tanks filled with acid, current passed through and plates become active 10:01 Porvic plastic separators made 10:44 Women workers trim, inspect separators 11:39 Battery containers on conveyer belt, sheets of rubber cut, ingredients added 12:06 Man operates mixing machine 12:30 Case molding shop, man operates molding press 13:09 Raw material added to mold, die descends, man watches pressure gauge 14:27 Finished container emerges from mold 14:58 Cell lids pressed 15:11 Plastic vent plugs made 15:27 Hand molder pours molten lead pulled into intercell connector molds 15:49 Individual parts inspected 16:13 Containers pass through high voltage tester 16:33 “Exide” logo painted 16:50 Final assembly begins on assembly line 18:01 Positive and negative plates interleaved 18:31 Porvic separators inserted 18:54 Plates inserted into container 12:33 Cell lids attached; time code tag added 19:45 Sealing compound poured into container, flamed over 20:20 Intercell connectors installed, burned on 20:40 Each cell tested under air pressure 20:57 Vent plugs installed 21:08 Final inspection; finished batteries on conveyer belt 21:48 Batteries tested in extreme temperatures 23:00 Department heads in meeting 23:40 Battery sealer compound, lead oxide tested 24:29 Lead alloy examined on tensometer, galvanometer 25:34 Finished batteries boxed up 25:44 Exide-Drydex lorry (truck) 26:08 Exide London Depot at Park Royal; workers stack boxes 26:47 Animated map of Exide depots and service agents 28:35 Mine railway 28:48 Steam locomotive, train interior 29:09 Farm tractor with Exide battery 29:20 Helicopter dusts crops 29:25 Lockheed Constellation aircraft at airport 29:34 Formation of de Havilland Vampire jets 29:46 Pilot ejects from Gloster Meteor jet 29:57 Centurion tank, messenger on motorcycle 30:22 Royal Navy light cruiser 30:36 Officer closes hatch on submarine 30:49 Surfaced submarine descends 31:15 weather balloon, rocket launched 31:37 Cargo ship at sea, lighthouse 32:15 Battersea power station, London 32:22 Surgeons perform operation in hospital 32:32 Neon signs outside theaters, concert halls 33:03 Exide Batteries neon sign 33:16 END

Exide was originally a brand name for batteries produced by The Electric Storage Battery Co., founded by W.W. Gibbs in 1888, later Exide Corp. In 1894, Gibbs consolidated the battery business by purchasing patents owned by rivals. Today, Exide both manufactures and recycles lead acid batteries.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com