Not a problem!
A question
RV guy.mass
While driving…
Alternator makes electricity.
Say driving 25mph…
How much is produced
&
Not used ( wasted
Signed
Curiosities
David
Lee
Good question. Alternator produces what electrical power is required for the situation and no more, so very little is wasted. Say alternator is producing 50 Watts, then you turn on the headlights & 50 more Watts of electrical power is needed. When the headlights turn on, more current is needed for the headlights, and that current comes from the alternator windings. As these extra electrons flow around the circles (the windings) that creates a bigger magnetic field, which causes more electricity to be produced. The alternator’s increased magnetic field opposes the pulley turning, so the car’s motor has to work harder. Not quite that simple, but that’s the basic idea.
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None. The alternator doesn’t produce excess current, only what is demanded at that moment. The car’s ECU determines the demand and energizes the field coil.
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+1 to @George_San_Jose1 and @Mustangman , think of the alternator as a demand device. The car demands electricity, lights, radio, coil to fire plugs etc. The alternator steps up to the demand. When the demand drops the alternator supplies less, when the demand rises the alternator produces more. A very nice balanced system.
Electrons are not being produced unless they are needed and have somewhere to go
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+1
That is a very concise and accurate description!
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That reminds me so much of my computer stuff. Is it bad to put a 12 watt power supply on something that only needs 3 watts? No I was told it will only take what it needs.
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Barkydog has the right concept. It only loads down your engine based on how much it is producing. It’s not like a fan clutch that wastes the extra energy when the engine is running faster.
With that said automotive alternators typically are very inefficient. They only produce 0.5 to 0.6 times the energy that goes in. They’re based on a very old design of passive overload protection. A regular generator that’s used as a portable generator would have an efficiency of something more like 0.9.
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