Car Alternator

[wetcat007]

I was wonder if drawing too much power(while the car is running) while using a power inverter could possibly damage a cars alternator or is their a safeguard of some sort in place?

 

[Rubycon]

It's hard on the voltage regulator, diodes, and brushes. Excessive draw can melt the fusible link resulting in total loss of charging ability.

Bear in mind I'm not a motor car electrical system expert, but I know how to read a diagram. 😉

 

[tfinch2]

I ate a bulk piece of meat for dinner that was shaped like an alternator.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
I ate a bulk piece of meat for dinner that was shaped like an alternator.

You should be careful doing that. You might pulley your teeth! :laugh:

 

[wetcat007]

Would most vehicles be able to take 150watts AC. A year or two ago my friend hooked up a Dell XPS laptop to a power inverter and was running it off the car(Mazda Protege), when at idle the inverter beeped signaling it wasn't getting enough power but once you get moving it was fine. Anyways taking a trip soon, using a 98 dodge caravan with a 3.8 v6, going to have two laptops plugged in for a good portion of the 16 hour drive. My laptops pulls 65 watts, while the XPS pulls 150 , is there any real risk to the alternator in the van for that? We've done that previously on a newer model Caravan(was still under warranty so didn't worry about it as much) never had a problem, except when at idle it wouldn't power the XPS.(the power inverter beeped)

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn

Originally posted by: tfinch2
I ate a bulk piece of meat for dinner that was shaped like an alternator.

You should be careful doing that. You might pulley your teeth! :laugh:

Got to be careful with those jokes, it's a torqued crowd.

 

[Rubycon]

These threads definitely need some Never-Seez. 😛