Alternator

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

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

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

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

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