charging system

Objective of the experiment:

1- Learn the principle of It is operation
2- Learn the parts of the charging system
3- Learn how to check the dynamo

An alternator is a magical device that can turn mechanical energy into

electrical energy. Okay, it's not actually magic, it's science! This lesson
will explain how an alternator works.
Alternators are designed to charge the battery of a motor vehicle
Like the dynamo, the alternator is designed to charge the battery of the
vehicle. Alternators are a more recent design, made possible by the
development of the silicone diode. Alternators started being fitted to
vehicles in the 1960s.
The alternator, similar to the dynamo, has two main components; the rotor
and the stator. The output is produced by the stator, the static component
of the alternator. The field is produced by the rotor, which rotates within
the stator and is usually driven by a belt from the engine. There is no
commutator in an alternator as the output from the generator is converted
into DC by the diode pack.

Mechanical Energy and Electrical Energy

Back to mechanical energy, which is a type of energy that an object has
due to its movement or its position. Your car's engine is made up of many
parts, including something called a crankshaft. This crankshaft rotates
when the engine is running. This rotation is a type of mechanical energy,
and it is passed along to the alternator.
The alternator takes this mechanical energy and makes electrical energy,
which is energy that comes from an electric charge. Specifically, the
alternator makes an alternating current, or AC. Like the name implies, the
electrical current alternates, or switches direction. Contrast this with
a direct current, or DC, where the electrical current flows in the same
direction. Wait, AC/DC, isn't that a band? Who said musicians couldn't
also be scientists?
Your house, your office, and the outlets you are familiar with use AC
because it is easier to transport and you can get more bang for your buck
(or a higher voltage for your buck) compared to DC. Things like your cell
phone, items that use batteries, and flat-screen TVs use DC. You are able
to use these items with your AC outlets because you have an AC adapter
or a USB cable. For the scope of this lesson, that should be enough, so
let's move on, and delve into how alternators work.
Voltage Regulator
An alternator uses a voltage regulator, in the same way as a dynamo.
Rather than using a voltage coil to measure the voltage produced by the
unit and switch relay contacts, an alternator use electronics to achieve the
same end. A Zener diode can be set to break down at a given voltage and
this function can be used as a control signal to switch on a transistor,
allowing current to flow from the battery through the voltage regulator and
through the rotor coil.
Slip Rings
The connection to the rotor coil is made through a slip ring set that
contacts to carbon brushes. Slip rings are made of two rings of phosphor
bronze, separated by an insulating material. A set of slip rings is mounted
on the none-drive end of the rotor shaft.
The Rotor
There are a number of different designs of rotor, the most common are the
Lundell (or claw) type and salient pole type.
Salient pole type
The salient pole type are the oldest design and don't tend to be used much
now. The rotor itself is made using a similar construction to that of an
armature, utilising lots of laminations stamped out and pressed together on
a knurled shaft. The salient poles can also be made as separate lamination
stacks and then bolted to the shaft. The coils are wound around each of the
poles such that the coils are in magnetic opposition consecutively. When
current is passed through the whole rotor a north pole is followed by a
south pole, around an axis of 360 degrees.
Claw pole type
The claw type rotor is less efficient than the salient pole type but is
cheaper to manufacture. There is only one coil which is sandwiched
between pole irons. Pole irons are forged in the form of a star with the
radial fingers bent through 90 degrees as to run parallel with the rotor axis.
When assembled the pole irons are arranged so their respective fingers
intertwine. This turns the axial bipolar field into a polypole radial field
which will match the multi-pole stator winding.
The Stator
The stator core is made of stamped laminations stacked on top of one
another and welded or cast into aluminium to hold them together. The
laminations are stamped in a pattern which produces a series of slots when
the laminations are pressed together. The stator coils are wound into the
slots. The number of slots vary depending on the alternator. Older units
may have 12 or 24 slots but more modern units usually have 36 or 48
slots. The number of slots governs the number of poles and the frequency
of the output. The rotor poles also have to match those of the stator.
The stator winding is made up of a series of coils that can be wire wound
or wound with a series of pulled hair pin coils which are connected
together. Most alternator stators are three phase, which means they have
separate windings - displaced physically from one another by 120
electrical degrees. Each of the phases are connected to one another in
either a star or delta configuration, depending on which characteristics are
required from the unit.
How An Alternator Operates
As the rotor spins within the stator a current is allowed to flow through the
voltage regulator and through the rotor coil. The rotor coil generates a
magnetic field which causes a voltage to be induced into the stator coils,
depending on:
• the speed of rotation
• the battery voltage being applied
• number of turns in the stator winding coils
Each of the three phases of the stator windings are being excited as the
rotor spins but each phase is at a different stage in the cycle, depending on
where the rotor pole is in relation to that phase.
As a pole of the rotor approaches a stator coil it starts to excite the stator
coil. This process will produce a voltage that increases until the pole of the
rotor is directly above it. The peak voltage of the stator coil will occur at
this point. As the rotor pole spins away the voltage produced by the stator
coil will start to fall until the rotor pole is completely out of the coils pitch.
This will be the minimum output from that coil. As there is another stator
coil displaced 120 electrical degrees from the first the rotor pole leaves the
peak of the first coil and starts to excite the coils of the second phase, and
so on with the third phase. Each phase is always producing.
The rising and falling output as the rotor spins is sinusoidal (or AC) but
the battery requires DC in order to be charged. The AC output is rectified
into a single DC output, suitable to the charging system, by the use of a
series of silicone diodes in a three phase bridge configuration, known as a
diode pack.
When the alternator output voltage increases above the voltage regulator's
threshold, the transistor supplying the current to the rotor will be switched
off. This will cause the magnetic field of the rotor coil to collapse, and
although the rotor continues to spin it will not induce any voltage into the
stator windings. The stator stops producing an output and the battery stops
charging. At this point the voltage regulator threshold will not be reached
so the transistor supplying current to the rotor coil will be switched on
allowing current to flow through the rotor coil, establishing a magnetic
field, and the whole cycle - which takes about 0.0001 seconds - starts
again.
In more modern alternators, such as the AC203RA, the voltage regulators
also have current regulators and timing functions. The voltage regulator
shuts the alternator down for a few seconds to protect it if it detects
voltage spikes.