I seriously doubt if the OP, Juanita, is still with us. But if you are, I hope you’ve gathered from all the testosterone we’re slingin’ around that getting hung up on the nomenclature (generator vs. alternator) can be meaningless. That’s also true of many other nomenclatures used in the automotive world. The terms can be puzzling, and even we often debate them. Most of us try to respect the differences, especially those of us who have served and been exposed to regional terminology. I learned by living with people from al over the country while in the Air Force that many of the northeast terms that I grew up with have different meanings elsewhere. This being a family forum, I’ll dispense with the details.
Terminology evolves over time. A word usually starts out as a description of the function or operation of a part, and then becomes generic and sometimes evolves into downright fuzzy. Often too, people from different walks of life have learned different meanings for the same term, and use the terms when talking about automotive technology even though automotive guys use them differently. It’s all part of the human experience. Sometimes too a brand name becomes generic, used to define all similar products… like Kleenex and Windex.
Well, I just thought this would be a good way to summarize the thread and clarify the “bottom line” of the discussion. It’s only a nomenclature. So I’ll say “good night”.
Very true mountainbike. Look at the number of terms applied to CV shafts.
CV shafts, halfshafts, driveshafts, CV joints, CV axle, constant velocity shaft, axle shafts, and I’ve even heard them referred to as DOJ shafts.
Go to 4 or 5 different shops in the same town and each shop may use one of those terms or something not even on the list; or the same shop may use all of them.
Technically, Subaru uses a transaxle not a transmission but most customers could be easily confused with the former so the latter is used so as to not muddy the water.
Wasn’t it just recently that someone said that FWD vehicles don’t have differentials? Is it any wonder that people feel like they’re landing on another planet when they take their car to a shop…
When I was designing corporate educational programs, I could walk into any factory and totally and completely understand everything that was going on. I was totally “at home”, having spent 23 years in that industry. On the other hand, I met with a hospital senior administrator once, having fortunately brought a PhD in nursing with me, and I was the one that was totally lost. I had no idea what they were talking about. I have no idea at all how the healthcare industry operates or how they do what they do. Same with the financial world… two financial guys chatting leave me totally bewildered.
The generators as the term was used in times before the alternator became popular, was basically a permanent magnet brushed DC electric motor that instead of voltage and current being fed into it to make it spin and do work, is made to work in reverse. Thus, it is spun by the application of rotational force and energy so that it outputs DC voltage and current, which then can also do work like moving ions in a battery to charge it, for example.
I am still here, the same mountainbike and ok4450, reading, and appreciate the directions this thread has taken. Having traved back from Wisconsin thru Kansas this weekend and observing wind turbines along the way in Iowa, the discussion was very interesting, hats off to all who drew pictures, etc. I even understood some of the math from long ago math classes.
@Mustangman, very helpful to know about the name change and to the same mountainbike, bottomline of the discussion!
I am ok with ending this discussion if all of you are! I even have another discussion topic to post in a few minutes. Tee hee!
We could, but since engines are recognized as motors by
every state’s Department (or Bureau) of Motor Vehicles,
every legal system in the country whether local, state, or federal (read their various statutes),
Harley Davidson Motorcycles,
General Motors,
Chrysler Motors,
Ford Motorcar Company,
motorboaters,
motor scooters,
the Hell’s Angels,
every federal agency that defines regulations for motor vehicles or parking (see the ADA regulations,
every cop,
every lawyer,
every judge,
and every dictionary,…
going onto that discussion just might be futile. Otherwise that Motor Vehicle Citation I got would be moot… but it wasn’t… I had to pay.
{:-/
I’m a retired airline pilot (Flying Tiger Line B727s and DC8s). The GENERATORS we had produced 115 Volt 400 cycle ALTERNATING current , some of that passing through “T/R” (transformer-rectifiers to give us 28 volt AC and DC.
^ When I bicycle commuted, I decided I wanted to upgrade my generator-powered 3W halogen light to LED. When results were underwhelming, my multimeter let me know IT was an alternator, too! (So off to Radio Shack I went, for a bridge rectifier.)
Actually, bicycle bottle generators are often referred to as “dynamos,” which I always understood meant DC-specific generator, so I was surprised I only got half my money’s worth out of my LED setup.
