Fellow Scions,
The recent cooling fan/generator/alternator thread brought
back a question that I have wondered about for years: Does
increasing electrical load really result in increased load
on a generator/alternator, and therefore in increased gas
mileage? Please hear me out before you answer, not because
I'm right, but because I want a specific question answered.
My argument is strictly intuitive, as I have no formal
electrical education. Here goes: A generator consists of an
armature (a metal shaft covered with wires) rotating between
two magnets. There's no physical contact (other than
brushes). How, therefore, can increased load make the
armature harder to rotate? My intuition has always told me
that a certain amount of electricity will be produced by
this arrangement, and any excess beyond what's needed is
(forgive me, this is all intuitive) bled off somehow, by
sending it to ground.
Related question: When I have my air conditioning on in the
car, and I turn the temperature dial towards warmer, does
the A/C compressor therefore start working less hard, and my
gas mileage goes up, or does the compressor work just as
hard, but the cool air get mixed with warm uncooled air in
order to warm the air coming out of the vent?
I somebody can explain this in simple terms, I would
appreciate it. You will have cleared up one of the mysteries
of the universe for me.
Warren Allen
1960 TR3A (And no, it doesn't have A/C. That question
concerns a BAC (Big American Car.)
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