wrote:
On Mon, 11 May 2009 18:05:09 -0400, jeff_wisnia
wrote:


jeff_wisnia wrote:


Joe Pfeiffer wrote:


jeff_wisnia writes:



I'm thinking that all else left alone, it probably doesn't matter
which way the shaft of an automobile alternator is rotated since the
machine produces ac which is then rectified to create a polarized dc
output.

Am I right about that?

The question came up just now when eldest son and I were kibitzing
about this week's "Car Talk" puzzler:

http://www.cartalk.com/content/puzzl...918/index.html



My drill is reversible, so it doesn't really matter anyway...



And all my 120 volt drills turn only CW. (That tells ya
how olde they (and I) am. G

Son just pinged me to say that if you ran the alternator belt over the
alternator pulley and then over the drill chuck you could point the
drill in the appropriate direction. That may be the answer the Car Talk
guys are looking for, as it's not likely there'd be enough room under
the hood to connect the drill through a socket directly to the
alternator shaft nut.

But, you could always unmount the alternator and.......

Jeff



The "official answer" from the Car Talk boys is:

http://www.cartalk.com/content/puzzl...18/answer.html

But I do have trouble buying it, there just can't be very many vehicles
around with enough physical space in front of the alternator pulley to
cram a typical 120 volt electric drill into.

But maybe I don't know where the "chock" is on a drill. G

Jeff

Click and Clack are idiots anyway.


I can't agree with that statement, Claire.

They are merely playing to the level of their current radio audience,
and their show has remained on the air for over 30 years now.

Both of them graduated of my alma mater a few years after I did and in
1999 that school (MIT) honored them by having them as that years's
commencement speakers.

I've met them both a few times in a non-radio show setting and they sure
didn't sound like idiots to me.

And I still get a chuckle if I'm in Harvard Square, Cambridge and see
"Dewey Cheetham and Howe" on that office window

http://image07.webshots.com/7/0/25/8...3kDHlbw_fs.jpg
Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.