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From: fowler@uw-beaver (Rob Fowler)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: Alternators
Message-ID: <721@uw-beaver>
Date: Sat, 2-Feb-85 15:25:58 EST
Article-I.D.: uw-beave.721
Posted: Sat Feb  2 15:25:58 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 3-Feb-85 11:31:27 EST
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Distribution: net
Organization: U of Washington Computer Science
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> 
> I read an article about how some guy invented a box that cuts out 
> his alternator most of the time thus saving gas by not having the
> device under a load when not needed.
> 

That's strange.  I always thought that your regulator did that.  As I recall
the Delco transistorized regulator in my Scout II connects the alternator
only when certain conditions occur such as some obscure reference voltage
(related to the state of the battery) being too low and the alternator being
able to charge it up.  If those conditions do not obtain then the
alternator continues to spin, but no electrical energy is taken from it.
It would really surprise me if using a mechanical clutch would save enough
energy to be worth the addtional complexity and maintenance hassles.

I guess that if you were racing that not having that added mass
being accellerated all the time might give you the smallest iota
of an advantage, but that seems pretty unlikely.

About that damned transistorized regulator: The reference voltage is
measured across a 1 to 3 ohm resistance wire from the back of the alternator
to the ammeter.  It goes through the firewall as part of a huge cable that
has a bulkhead connector there.  Get a little water and salt in it and it
corrodes, changes the resistance, and presto!! the aternator is permanently
on, even when the engine is off. This happened to me on an all night drive
through a blizzard in Falling Rocks, Montana.  I long for the days when it
was possible to do reasonable, temporary roadside repairs.

-- Rob Fowler