Anthony Robinson wrote,
>One Question: how do alternators make such high current at low rpm? It
>easily manages to balance the headlights and etc at idle of ~800 rpm.
Alternators run 3 phases of voltage generation, which is rectified to DC
by diodes. The voltage output is fairly constant "with full field" as a
function of RPM, but the frequency changes, as does its current
capacity.
Generators output higher voltages at higher RPMs but, they act as a
single
phase system because only one commutator winding is used at a time.
Generators do generally have lower losses as they dont need the
diodes "rectification is effectively perfomed by the commutator points".
>PS: for no known reason, it seems to have made the car smoother?!?!?
Alternators have more "spun mass" as the spinning field coil has more
mass and has a larger diameter than a generator.
This acts as a mini flywheel coupled by the fan belt.
Jarrid Gross
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 09:59:57 CDT