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- Protege5 2003
Nothing is wrong with the alternator on my car, I just want to understand its operation a little better.
The alternator on a car turns whenever the motor is running. At least, I've never heard of a car with a clutch on the alternator equivalent to the one on the AC compressor. I know there is a circuit which controls the alternator's output voltage in order to keep the battery properly charged. If the battery voltage goes down it supplies more current to it, if it goes up, it supplies less, and if it goes up too much it supplies none (by matching its output voltage to the battery's voltage.)
Is there an additional alternator circuit to normalize the alternator output versus motor speed?
That is, the faster the motor spins the faster the alternator spins, and presumably the more amps the alternator would produce. From idle at around 800 RPM to zooming around at 4000 RPM there is a factor of 5 change in the RPM. Do alternators select different taps on the coils for various rotational speeds, or in some other way compensate for the speed change, or do they just rely on the primary charging circuit to keep the excess electricity they are generating out of the battery?
Assuming that there is just the one charging circuit, does that circuit convert the excess power to heat or does it somehow "detune" the alternator so that it produces less output?
The alternator on a car turns whenever the motor is running. At least, I've never heard of a car with a clutch on the alternator equivalent to the one on the AC compressor. I know there is a circuit which controls the alternator's output voltage in order to keep the battery properly charged. If the battery voltage goes down it supplies more current to it, if it goes up, it supplies less, and if it goes up too much it supplies none (by matching its output voltage to the battery's voltage.)
Is there an additional alternator circuit to normalize the alternator output versus motor speed?
That is, the faster the motor spins the faster the alternator spins, and presumably the more amps the alternator would produce. From idle at around 800 RPM to zooming around at 4000 RPM there is a factor of 5 change in the RPM. Do alternators select different taps on the coils for various rotational speeds, or in some other way compensate for the speed change, or do they just rely on the primary charging circuit to keep the excess electricity they are generating out of the battery?
Assuming that there is just the one charging circuit, does that circuit convert the excess power to heat or does it somehow "detune" the alternator so that it produces less output?
