In article ,
Roger Hayter wrote:
But they are not limited by alternator technology.
Exactly. The situation changed dramatically when alternators replaced
dynamos. After this the limitation was rather crude electo-mechanical
controls. Before that, everyone had a battery charger!
The peak output of a dynamo on the average car fitted with one was under
30 amps - 24 being a common size. Plenty 50s cars didn't have enough
output to drive all the electrical bits then - let alone what we are used
to now.
Rolls did fit an adequate size dynamo with electro mechanical regulator.
An alternator is much cheaper to make than an equivalent dynamo. But had
to wait for cheap enough rectifiers to be practical. So saying, electronic
control can improves the performance of a dynamo too - if not the peak
output.
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*I don't suffer from insanity -- I'm a carrier
Dave Plowman
London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.