Assertion: alternator's voltage regulator | /r/HasProperty | incorrect nomenclature
Facets:
Source sentences:
text: , Your alternator being called an alternator because it generates alternating current, as in AC voltage, in your case about 60 volts, whereas it is routed through what is commonly known as a voltage regulator, which in fact is incorrect nomenclature, as that's a throw back from the days of old when the Generator was used which generated DC voltage, the regulator regulated the amount of DC voltage due to RPM to the battery, somehow the name stuck, what you now have is actually a Rectifier which changes the AC voltage to DC voltage, rectifying the problem so to say, the most common is the Zener Diode Tree, basically its a series of diodes and resistors in some cases, or the Avalanche Diode Tree, which is basically the same thing but different, and I will not bore you with the details, somewhere in this circuit a diode has failed allowing to much DC voltage to pass, the rectifier is still changing the AC to DC but its not cutting it down enough, remember your still working with 60 volts AC, normally you see a total failure and the Alternator and rectifier fail to put out anything, except maybe about 5 volts AC, its a fail safe built into the diode tree,