5 ms·
Cheers, alternators are essentially magic to me. Id have presumed they were generating 'enough' power at all times the engine was running.
by jondumbau 7y ago
Cheers, alternators are essentially magic to me. Id have presumed they were generating 'enough' power at all times the engine was running.
- whenchamenia 7y agoThey produce based on current draw, but have a maximum output, usually around 60-85a for and older car, to 120-240a at 14.4vdc for a newer car or truck. There is no permanant magnet, so the coils require power to generate power. Its quite interesting.
- fyfy18 7y agoFurther to this the 12V battery effectively acts as a big capacitor while the car is running, to smooth out the power that is available. I found this out the hard way a couple of years ago. My 12V was dead, yet I managed to jump start the car and get it running. I thought it would be ok to drive to get a new battery, as long as I kept the engine running high enough. After a couple of km the dashboard lights started to dim, so I tried reving it as high as I could, but the battery wasn't able to buffer the power and supply the ignition system, so the engine stopped. It was rush hour and I was in the middle lane, so it wasn't a particularly fun wait for the tow truck.