The alternator creates AC power initially... Does anyone know what voltage this is, if its a steady voltage, and how to get to it? I was just thinking about trying to do a few things if anyone knows what comes out of these alternators.

--Trey

 

Don't know for sure but in most alternators the rectifier/current limiter circuit is located internally. Based on the output i would guess that it is most likely around 30 volts ac. What specifically are you trying to do? I am an electrical engineer and would be willing to give you some free advice, just remember advice is always worth what you pay for it.

Mike LaChance

 

the big problem with the ac from an alternator is the cycles per second, oh yeah, hertz. It will run up to 400 hertz. You will have three outputs which you can play all the games with transformers to come up with different voltages.

 

I thought the AC volts on these alts were around 60-70 volts, but the problem with useing the AC for something useful is that it has to run either 1600 or 3600 rpm to make 60 cycles to run US appliances. The rpm is alternator rpm. I was told by an old rebuilder that Leese Neville had one from the 60's or 70's that is a 105 amp that has AC taps on the outside of the case that will produce around 110 volts AC. It was obsolete in the early 90's and you had a hard time finding parts to rebuild that one. There are some newer LN's that are 200 amp output that have an external rectifier, but I don't know what the AC volts are. If you were able to get a useful AC voltage from one of these, you would have a problem maintaining the 60 cyc when the load changes due to rpm's and belt slippage. If you want 110V on your truck, Generac used to make one that was pretty good. It's been 10 years since I messed with one. Good luck

 

Ok... I'm going to dump my 2 cents here...

I've done some testing on a motorcycle (mine...) This is what I found out on alternators. The small little alternator on a motorcycle only puts out max 20 AMPS. But when you disconnect the 3 phase output and put a volt mter to it (AC scale) I was getting 130-140 VAC @4,000 RPM's....

Just to prove the theory of AC power out of that little alternator I could light up a 500 WATT shop light bulb by just reving the motor... Doing the math... 14.5 V X 20 AMP = 290 Watts worth of power...

What every you do don't grab the open lead will reving! ShOcKiNg!

HiD is right about the cycles (Hz) it will not power electric motors or electronics but light bulbs and heating element don't care about the Hz cycle being slow or fast...