How to Excite an Alternator? Guide for Exciting All types Alternators
An alternator is an electric generator. It is present in almost all kinds of modern cars nowadays. The job of an alternator is to power the car's electrical systems and the battery. It also helps in converting the mechanical energy into AC for use.
It is essential to excite an alternator from time to time to ensure the efficiency of your vehicle. Exciting an alternator guarantees it fabricated its voltage as it turns and normalizes it to the present position plane. This article will get a complete guide about how to excite an alternator.
How to excite an alternator
Exciting a one wire alternator is different from a two-wire and three-wire alternator. Let’s discuss all these three approaches in detail.
Exciting a Single Wire Alternator
Another name used for one wire alternator is a self exciting alternator. Some of the essential things required to excite a single wire alternator include a dc motor, an alternator, multi-meter, two laptop chargers, mobile charger, pulley and belt, a wooden board of around 30X30 cm, crocodile clips, and vice.
To excite a gm 1 wire alternator, you first need to perform all the mechanical connections before managing the electrical ones. Bond a pulley to a DC motor shaft. After this, bring out your wooden board and accumulate the motor on its side.
Once you perform this operation, the next thing is to acquire a gigantic vice and place it correctly on the other side of the same board. You can use screws in this process.
After this, attach the alternator and the DC motor using a pulley. Create all the electrical connections correctly and keep checking them from time to time. Join the main positive terminal on the alternator with main red brushes and the negative black or blue terminal of the brush correctly to any component on the alternator.
The following job is to get a mobile charger and join its positive cable to the main positive alternator terminal and its negative wire to any part on the alternator properly. Remember that the negative wire is black in color.
To swivel the alternator's shaft, you need a rotating device, i.e., a DC motor. Once everything gets in motion, separate the mobile charger from exciting your alternator. Keep in mind, it should not overcharge the alternator.
Exciting a Two-Wire Alternator
The wires that are used in this process are two. The one wire is used for the key. It receives the battery supremacy throughout the ECM and conducts through the regulator. It returns from side to side of the other wire to the beam on the dash, which goes off once the engine begins spinning the alternator.
Exciting a Three Wire Alternator
The steps required for exciting the three-wire alternator are almost similar to one wire alternator. The only difference is about the number of wires being used.
Three wires are used in a three-alternator exciter wire containing three terminals. The wires are positive, the ignition input, and the voltage sensing wire. The last wire is related to the battery, whereas the second one connects to the key switch using an alternator.
Steps to Excite an Alternator
In this section, you will learn about some of the essential steps involved in exciting a good quality alternator. Please have a look at each of them one by one.
● To excite an alternator, it is essential to make the right connections. You need to perform the mechanical and electric connections one by one to manage it.
● After this, attach a pulley to a DC motor shaft.
● The next step is to mount the DC motor on a wooden plane.
● Then position a vice on the other side of the board.
● The last thing is to connect the alternator and the DC motor.
One can easily excite an alternator by following all these steps. It is important to use the right tool to manage things well. If you face any difficulty in the process or exciting an alternator seems difficult, consider getting help from some professional. Without alternator, you cannot use electric systems of your car for a long time.
Web media has made things a lot simpler and more accessible nowadays. Many articles and videos are available on the web about exciting an alternator. If you still face any difficulty in setting up things correctly on your own after reading this article, consider checking related videos to understand them well.
The difference between one-wire, two-wire, and three-wire alternator
The process of exciting an alternator is similar in all these three cases. All these wiring alternators involve the same exciting steps. The only difference is the number of wires used and the connections made.
The one wire alternator contains a built-in voltage regulator. In some cases, it might have a slighter second wire for managing the ALT light well on the dashboard.
The two-wire alternator, on the other hand, contains two terminals. The one is used for output, whereas the second comes from a peripheral voltage regulator. The job of this terminal is to manage the voltage being produced.
Similarly, the three-wire alternator contains the positive battery wire, one input ignition wire, and the last voltage sensing wire. The last wire is connected to the battery, whereas the second one joins the alternator to the input switch.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a guide about how to excite an alternator, this article is for you. Here you will get a complete guide about an alternator and how it operates. You will also learn about one, two, and three-wire alternators, their exciting steps, and the difference between them.
However, remember that if you eliminate the alternator from your car or substitute it with some other alternator, it is crucial to polarize it before reinstalling. If it is hard for you to manage things properly, seek professional help.
FAQ’s
1.) How many volts does it take to excite an alternator?
It usually requires 14 volts if the alternator is in a good state and is working correctly. However, if the reading is excessively higher than 14 volts, you must check the voltage regulator present on your alternator as there might be a fault in it.
2.) Do I need the exciter wire on the alternator?
Yes, it is imperative to get an exciter wire on the alternator to begin the coil to create a field. It set up the alternator to produce charging; because of this reason, it has to be there.
3.) What is an exciter coil?
It is something that provides a stationary rotating magnetic field.
4.) What are the terminals on an alternator?
The terminals on the alternator include S-terminal, IG-terminal, L-terminal, and B-terminal. The S-terminal is used to sense the battery voltage. The IG-terminal, on the other hand, works as an ignition switch. Its job is to turn on the voltage regulator. The L-terminal closes up the circuit to the caution lamp. Last but not least B-terminal is something that is attached to the battery. It works as an output terminal.
