Alternators |
There are a lot of essential and non-essential components in a vehicle
that runs on electrical energy or electricity. Among the essential
components are the various auto lights, the ignition coils, the engine
fan and other auxiliary fans and the various parts of the fuel
injection system. Then, there are the non-essential electrical
components that make vehicle rides more enjoyable like the air
conditioning system and the audio system. Now, all these components
must get power from somewhere and many of us would tag the battery as
the source. While this is true to some extent, much of the electrical
energy needed by various auto components actually come from the
alternator – that vehicle component that converts mechanical energy to
electrical energy.
The alternator is a type of generator used on modern cars,
trucks, vans and SUVs that converts the mechanical energy generated by
the engine to electrical energy in the form of alternating current (as
opposed to the direct current generated by the DC generators used on
older vehicles). The main function of the alternator is to charge the
vehicle's battery. But while the engine is running, the alternator also
powers all the other electrical and electronic components installed in
the vehicle.
A typical alternator is composed of four basic parts: the
rotor, the stator, the diode packs and the voltage regulator. The rotor
is primarily a magnet that rotates around the stator, which is a core
of iron wrapped with copper wires. Together, the rotor-stator pair
generates alternating current, which would further be converted by the
diode packs into direct current that can be used to charge the battery
and power all other electrical components in the vehicle. The last of
the basic parts, which is the voltage regulator, is used to control and
maintain the amount of voltage given off by the alternator.
Now, would your vehicle still run if the alternator fails? It
would, but probably only for a few minutes. Your vehicle's battery
should have enough reserve power to allow your vehicle to run, but
without anything to recharge the battery, your vehicle would eventually
stop.
There are a lot of things that may cause the alternator to
fail. One is a defective or broken alternator belt, which can be easily
replaced with a new one. However, damage in the rotor, stator, diode
packs or voltage regulator would require you to replace the whole
alternator unit with a new one. If you can have the existing alternator
rebuilt, you can do so as this will save you a lot of money. New
alternators, however, would last longer than rebuilt alternator units. |
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