INTRODUCTION Alternators are all around us. There is hardly an engine which does not have one, running alongside in cars, trucks, buses, recreational vehicles, boats, aircraft, farm machines, earth moving equipment, and all kinds of stationary engines. Obviously, the alternators are doing their job very well since we hear so little about them. And if something does go wrong, most of the more popular models have their replacement available almost instantly, waiting on dealer shelves , in alternator shops, often even in department stores. How different things become though if you want something, slightly out of the ordinary, an alternator with greater output, some added feature, unusual application, or if you and your vehicle or vessel happen to be ina place where technical services are less abundant. Where you are the available technical service. Or when you want your alternator to do something new or different and, even though the expert may have told you it could'nt be done, you are not quite ready to give up. On top of that, it does not help that alternators on their way from the manufacturer to the engine or car factory take ona new name : a Delco alternator may become a Buick or Perkins, a Motorola one may become known as a Volvo or Universal. Just try fo find a Hitachi or Mitsubishi alternator in an auto store : there it may only be known as a Mazda, while at an engine dealer's it may be called Westerbeke or Yanmar. This book tries to make you see how alternators work, what they have in common, and how they differ in some details. The sketches should help to identify brands and types, if not models. And the dimensions should help when you have to replace one with another. Mf you are lucky, you will never need the trouble shooting and emergency repair instructions. But if you do, | hope they help. They should at least make you more fluent on the subject. Annapolis, April 1986 Edgar BeynCONTENTS Introduction Names : Generator - Alternator, Difference Coils and Magnets Why Not Permanent Magnets Of Rotor Poles and Stator Coils The Stator Alternating Current Three Phase Alternating Current Intermediate Summary Rectifying Diodes The Three Phase Rectifying Circuit Rectifying Diodes: Mechanical Auxiliary Diodes Isolating Diode Voltage Regulators Type P and Type N Excitation Battery Wiring Diagrams, Schematics Voltage Regulator Testing : in Operation Test Regulator Separately Voltage Regulator and Battery Charging Voltage Regulator Setting Manual Alternator Controls Specific Voltage Regulators Repairs, Trouble Shooting Alternator Output Test, Field Current Test Voltage Regulator Setting Test Testing Alternator Off Engine Disassembling the Alternator Emergency Repairs Alternator Dimensions Alternator File 116 - INDEX SronwNAMES _: GENERATOR - ALTERNATOR Have you wondered what the difference is or which might be the proper name ? Our subject is a generator. But just as with "light bulbs" which properly should be called "lamps", the popular name alternator is now in common use. The story behind it is the change, in the early sixties, from a generator with big coils and brushes but very modest.output to a new machine of different design. It was then called a Self-Rectifying AC Generator and some other complicated names. Improvements were made in rapid succession and the new machine needed a new name because it was much different from the old. Even though some makers still avoid calling it anything but a generator, the name alternator has become official for the new design. THE DIFFERENCE Direct current generators have at Icast two brushes in contact with a commutator : « ring of copper contacts. The generated current has to flow from the copper contacts to the brushes which had to be big to carry high current. Most alternators still have brushes, but for a different purpose, to carry a few Ampere of field current. Main feature of alternators is that the power generating coils of wire are fixed in one place instead of rotating. That improvement over the conventional generators has been made possible by solid state silicon rectifiers + since the stationary generating coils produce alternating current or AC, this alternating current must first be converted to direct current before it can be used to charge a battery. Very compact but powerful silicon diodes are located directly within the alternator housings and are solidly connected directly to the power generating coils . Details in the following sections will show you how that works.