Excess current produced in a alternator charging system will ?
Excess current produced in an alternator charging system will:
a. return to the battery
b. alternator charging systems normally do not produce excess current
c. be sent to ground
d. be used to power accessories
I am studying about boats and taking a quiz, but I'm having trouble finding the correct answer. I initially assumed it was option C (sent to ground), but I'm now considering option D (used to power accessories). Can anyone help clarify this for me? Thank you!
3 Answers
Nov 24, 2024
I already answered this.
There is no excess current. That is a fiction.
(b)
You may not like this answer, but it is the correct one.
The regulator controls the current put out by the alternator based on the state of the battery charge. So at a particular state of the battery, the regulator may call for 50 amps of current to charge the battery.
If the accessories are drawing 40 amps, the regulator will probably increase the current from the alternator to a value higher than 50 amps to compensate for the accessories draw.
Scams like the HHO outfits assume that, since the alternator is capable of 100 amps output, and when the battery is charged it only draws perhaps 10 amps, then the other 90 amps is “excess current” and is available for free use. But that is not true.
.
Personally, I think the question is faulty!
B would fit the answer. Unless the alternator is faulty it will only produce what is needed from it.
But then, if the alternator was producing just enough current for recharging the battery, and then some accessories were turned on, the alternator would then need to produce an “excess” equal to the accessory load, to keep recharging the battery at the same rate. That makes D look better. But the excess would be created on demand, not BE there already, for use for accessories.
If an alternator were producing more current than needed to charge the battery and supply all accessories, the battery would end up cooked. That’s out.
C is also out.
So let’s hope that B is intended to be the right answer.
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