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⌚Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - What is an alternator?
01:27 - Alternator vs. generator
01:55 - Major components
02:15 - Rotor
02:59 - Stator
05:15 - Rectifier
06:48 - Diode trio and voltage regulator
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In this video, we’re going to talk about a major component of many electrical power or charging systems, the Alternator. In particular, we’re going to look closely at a typical vehicle alternator.
We’ll look inside an alternator and examine all of its individual parts. Then we’ll discuss how these parts work together to do the work that the alternator is intended to do.
An alternator is a device that converts mechanical energy into AC electrical energy.
In a vehicle, the engine turns a drive belt that rotates a pulley attached to the alternator.
It’s probably safe to say that an alternator is a generator.
The alternator actually generates power for the vehicle. As the alternator rotates, it creates a DC voltage primarily to charge the vehicle battery. The battery provides the huge current required to start the vehicle engine.
Once the vehicle is running, the alternator assists by providing power to run the vehicle’s electrical systems.
There are differences in alternator construction and as such, there are a different number of components depending on the vendor.
Alternators have three major components and they are the Rotor, stator, and rectifier. There are more components and we’ll get to those as we progress through our discussion.
1. Alternator rotor
A drive belt pulley system spins the rotor on a shaft while the vehicle engine is running.
At the heart of the rotor is an electromagnet often referred to as field windings.
An electromagnet consists of a length of conductive wire wrapped around a piece of magnetic metal. Voltage is applied to the coiled wire creating a current in it. This creates a magnetic field around the coiled wire.
Much like a permanent magnet, there is a North and a South pole.
A rotor also has a series of alternating North and South finger pole pieces placed around the field windings that wrap around the iron core on the rotor shaft.
2. Alternator stator
The rotor fits inside the Stator. The stator is a stationary part of the alternator. The rotor spins inside the stator without physically touching it. On each end of the shaft sits a brush and a slip ring.
The Stator consists of three separate coil windings with one end of each winding connected together. The stator coil windings are evenly spaced at intervals of 120 degrees around the iron shaft.
There will be a voltage induced in each stator winding. The induced voltages will be AC because of the electromagnetic pole changing during the rotor rotation.
3. Alternator rectifier
How do we convert AC to DC? By using a Rectifier.
More often than not, the alternator rectifier has six diodes. The six diodes are mounted in a heatsinking material to protect them from burning up.
The diodes are configured in such a way that we rectify and convert both half-cycles of every stator voltage AC voltage.
A DC voltage is applied via the slip rings from two different sources.
The first source is from the battery when the engine is started. The second source is from the alternator itself once the rotor is spinning via a component called the diode trio.
Exactly like the rectifier, the diode trio input terminals are connected to each stator voltage output. The output terminal of each diode is connected together.
The diode trio converts part of the stator output voltages to a DC voltage.
The diode trio output is fed to the voltage regulator and becomes the energizing voltage for the rotor electromagnet once the engine has been started and is running.
The purpose of the voltage regulator is to adjust the electromagnet energizing voltage so that the stator output voltages are held relatively constant regardless of the rotational speed of the rotor.
The stator voltage is rectified and then used to charge the battery.
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