Getting to know your Car’s Alternator
Transportation has grown to become one of the most important forms of technology created today. The car especially has become one of the most indispensable pieces of asset every person should own. The point is everybody knows that the car can be used to get from point A to point B, but how well does the general public know the vehicle itself?
The issue here is that many people know how to drive a car, but very few know how the inside of a car works and thus are clueless what to do if their car stops moving. In light of that, we will be taking a look at how the alternator of a car works.
The alternator is basically a part of the battery, but the battery is the more famous word blurted out from a person’s mouth when a car dies. The alternator, voltage regulator, and the battery are three main components which make up an automotive charging system. The alternator is relatively small and light in weight, measuring up to roughly the size of a coconut. You will notice that most of the alternators found in passenger cars or light trucks are made from aluminum outer housing, to prevent it from magnetizing. The reason for this is because the nearby rotor assembly which produces a magnetic field to produce electronic energy, and should not be disturbed. In addition to that aluminum also quickly rids the battery of the tremendous heat created when producing the aforementioned electricity.
You will normally find the alternator located in the frontal area of the engine and is usually controlled by a crankshaft, which changes the pistons’ up-and-down movement into a circular movement. In the early years of the car there was a separate drive belt which would be used from the crankshaft pulley to the alternator pulley. Today however, most cars are using the serpentine belt or an alternate belt which controls all components which rely on the power of the crankshaft.
The alternator itself produces the electricity for the electronics in the car via an electromagnetism force, which is formed using a stator and rotor. This electricity is directed into the batteries, and powers up the electronics of the car.
Categorised as: Driving Tips