Alternator

Alternators have replaced dynamos as generators on modern cars; they can produce more current . Read more

Unlike dynamo brushes , alternator brushes normally last for several years. Electrical arcing between brushes and commutator , a major cause of dynamo wear, is far less common. Read more

If your car's instrument panel includes an ammeter , it will tell you how well the charging system is working - the difference between the charge going into the battery and the power being used from it. Read more

Alternators are powerful enough to cope with the demand for current made by a modern car's electrics, but dynamos often are not. So if your car has a dynamo, and its output is inadequate, it makes sense to swap a dynamo for an alternator. Read more

The engine is, in many respects, self-sustaining: it supplies the power that drives a number of ancillary - subordinate - components without which it could not work. Read more

When you have tested the charging system of a car fitted with an alternator , and the checks in How to test a car battery point to a fault in the voltage regulator , make sure that you need to replace it. The fault may be elsewhere. Read more