Alternators in modern cars (if it’s not just a chip), or generators in classic cars. How do they regulate the voltage through high RPM and not overcharge the sytstem?
In: Engineering
Thats why its called a voltage regulator or voltage diode to keep voltage constant not allowing over or under levels.
A generator spins a copper coil (or several) in a magnetic field. The voltage generated depends on the number of windings of the coil, the speed, and the strength of the field.
A normal generator uses normal magnets to generate the magnetic field. Thus, since the windings and field never change, the voltage only changes with speed. We don’t want the voltage to change in an alternator, so we are given the option of either regulating the speed or changing the strength of the magnetic field. It’s not like we can take the coil apart and rewind it while it is spinning, after all.
Since the speed cannot be easily regulated, we instead change the strength of the magnetic field. The normal magnets are replaced with electromagnets, which syphon off some electrical power in order to create a magnetic field. The amount of power syphoned is changed to ensure that the voltage stays about the same.
I had a flat battery and when roadside assistance came to start it, he told me that it was the wrong type of battery.
Instead of lead acid, it was carbon carbon. My old Mercedes didn’t have the alternator to charge it properly, he recommended putting the battery on charge every couple of weeks to top it up.
I forgot exactly what he told me about modern alternators, something about ramping up the charge rate and then changing something else. Tbh I was more concerned with the ice cream that I had just bought melting.
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