Quote:
Originally Posted by whitevette
For those of us out here who are "electrically challenged" ( I know not to stick anything into a wall socket ... except a plug) , would you elaborate a bit on the specifics of this "load switch"? I am in fear of burning up a very expensive alternator. It sounds great to me! The battery gets lots of charge time, anyhow....My Scangauge shows me great numbers of (downhill) "charge times" but who needs alternator drag while pulling a steep grade? -whitevette
|
Last night, I was talking to a EE friend of mine...and the subject of turning off the field of the alternator ( to reduce the charging drag ) came up. His rather quick response was "Don't!" Then he remarked "How many HP in, say, 1300 watts?" I said "Less than 2." He then said " And you're gonna save how many MPG? You can't even measure this." He then said "You'll be sorry, later, when your charging system electrics go sour." He was referring to the pulses in the system when this "switch" was cycled ( off, on, off, on again...). Poor alternator! Poor relays, poor diodes, etc.
So ... I guess I'll leave well enough alone.