Anyone explain how an alt works?

well as a set of magnets rotate inside a bunch of copper wires it generates ac current. Things called Rectifiers take that alternating current and turn it into the direct ,or DC currrent , that your truck runs and recharges on. You have at least one "turn-on" wire that comes off the dash light for charging. It has a 12 ignition feed on it and if the alt goes out then it'll get a ground so then the dash light will come on

Nice explanation man.

:word:

thansk , I try. My knowledge is limited I hear as I only work at Best Buy

I couldn't have explained it better myself, but I wouldn't have thought that you knew that much if I knew you worked at bestbuy j/k

94flamds10blazr said:

well as a set of magnets rotate inside a bunch of copper wires it generates ac current. Things called Rectifiers take that alternating current and turn it into the direct ,or DC currrent , that your truck runs and recharges on. You have at least one "turn-on" wire that comes off the dash light for charging. It has a 12 ignition feed on it and if the alt goes out then it'll get a ground so then the dash light will come on

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As a side note, there are single wire aftermarket "self exciting" alternators too.

yeah scotts got handle on this shit, at least thats where ive been learning from:read:

I've taken a few apart and yeah, the big heavy center part rotates. The wires surrouning it are the stator or someting, that has to turn on from the vehicle the it makes power I suppose.

It's just weird to me how that unit makes power. :haha: Considering it's magnetic.

What about producing higher amperage units?

OrangeCrush said:

yeah scotts got handle on this shit, at least thats where ive been learning from:read:

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:word: Scott knows his shit ... Very knowledgable.

Its because its magnetic that it makes power. When you move a magnet around a wire, it induces a current in the wire. When you put a whole bunch of magnets in there and a whole bunch of wire and spin it really fast, it makes lots of current, or at least enough for a truck.

usually the units that put out more power have better tighter windings, some have 5 rectifiers instead of 3, more magnets and the larger cases to hold it all
also as a side effect of having an alt. , we can get noise in our stereo systems due to the fact that it produces A/C current. When you get that whining noise that gets louder with rpms its from the a/c ripple the alt produces thats still present after the rectifiers send + in one direction and - in the other

Sweet! Thanks! :shake:

note to self, write essay about alternator and use this thread

Kyle said:

note to self, write essay about alternator and use this thread

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Id need credit for that

Whifflebat said:

Its because its magnetic that it makes power. When you move a magnet around a wire, it induces a current in the wire. When you put a whole bunch of magnets in there and a whole bunch of wire and spin it really fast, it makes lots of current, or at least enough for a truck.

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Yes seriously.... but If someone doesn't know how a coil works, they don't know Jack about how a car works.

Pretty good explaining on the alternator. It's all about the Recifers(little diode that switches back and forth and back and forth to make one continuous current flow)

actually the diodes done switch back and forth and nothing in them even moves. A diode has a cathode side and an anode side. They let + flow one way but not the other and - flow one way and not the other. If you ever look at a diode itll have a grey stripe on one side and be all black on the other. If you send a - into the side with the stripe itll send it out the other end but not a +. If you send a + into the black side itll send it out the other but not a -