What is the generator used for and how does it work? Many people wonder why the generator does not work if the voltage is not applied to the rotor winding? And it does not work for the reason that the condition for the occurrence of EMF in the conductor is not met.
The vehicle needs a generator to power the electrical circuits and charge the battery while the engine is running. On VAZs of the classic series, as on later models, generators are used, the principle of which is the same. Differences are observed only in the design of individual elements. So, depending on the car model, generators with different powers are used. If on the early copies of cars there were few energy consumers, then on later their number increased, it was necessary to increase the power of the power source.
The principle of the generator
If you disassemble the VAZ generator, then two parts can be distinguished - the rotor and the stator. Note that the generator is a DC machine. That is, the moving part has a winding that requires additional power supply. What is the voltage on the rotor for? We will try to understand this issue.
The stator has three identical windings from which the voltage is removed. When the rotor rotates without a connected power supply inside the stator winding, the EMF will not be induced in the latter, since it is known from the physics course that the EMF is induced when the conductor moves in a magnetic field. What should be done? We supply a stabilized voltage to the rotor winding. And it makes no sense to use permanent magnets in the design, since this makes the generator very expensive to manufacture.
We get that a current flows in the rotor winding, which creates a certain magnetic field around the conductor. Having untwisted the generator from the crankshaft, we obtain compliance with the main condition - the magnetic field moves inside the winding. Consequently, an EMF will appear, and a potential difference will appear at the ends of the winding.
What does the VAZ generator consist of?
The most important thing is the body, which can be divided into three main components. These are two covers with bearings and a middle part with a generator winding. A pulley fitted to the rotor is used to transmit torque from the crankshaft. Early VAZ models used V-belts. And only dozens of them were first equipped with multi-groove wide belts. Due to the fact that the belt is wide and has many grooves, it was possible to halve the diameter of the pulley.
The bearings, which are responsible for the stable operation of the entire mechanics, are installed in the front and rear covers. The one that stands in the front has the greatest wear, since the belt has a huge effect on it. But then electronics, however, is not entirely modern, there is nothing complicated in it. Three pairs of semiconductor diodes designed to convert three-phase AC to DC.
A capacitor is installed at the output to smooth out the ripple. An ordinary electrolytic capacitor, it has no specific features. A brush mechanism is installed on the rotor, which is located in the same housing with a relay-regulator. Previously, both mechanical voltage regulators and those made according to complex circuits were installed. But recently, regulators made on a single semiconductor crystal have gained wide popularity. They are cheap and simple.
