A.C. Generators Will Replace Dynamos: Intensive Research
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1T is possible that at the next Commercial Motor Show, many buses l and coaches exhibited will be equipped with alternators in place of
dynamos. The Commercial Motor understands that at least one maker of electrical equipment has been engaged in intensive research in this field for the past two years, and although it may be some time before the alternator completely displaces the dynamo, its installation in passenger vehicles cannot be long delayed.
The inevitable development of the se of fluorescent lighting in buses and °aches, the increasing employment of No-way radio in taxis and goods ehicles, and the extremely heavy cmands made on .vehicle batteries, yen when fitted with what is now ccepted as normal equipment, will ompel serious attention to be devoted ) an already proved practical lternative.
Unlike the dynamo, the alternator as no commutator and only twO small rushes, and by reason of its design can be driven at a speed governed nly by the limitations imposed by the earings‘ An outstanding feature of le alternator is its low-speed output haracteristic even with a comparavely small unit.
100 Amp. Output
Fi'om an alternator only 6i-in. in iameter and 9 5132-in, long it is ossible to obtain an output of 100 mp. at 14 volts at a speed of 1,600 p.m. With such an instrument, iterior heating for passenger vehicles 3uld also be supplied.
As the instrument produces alternang current it is necessary to instal a :ctifier in the system, but experience as shown that if a metal rectifier is sed in conjunction with a well-made .ansforrner, no trouble need be spected from this source.
In effect, a high-rated charging plant, sing a highly efficient generator of omparatively simple construction, is mployed in place of a much heavier dynamo, which, for practical reasons, must conform to reasonable overall dimensions.
The alternator system is no novelty in America where it has been in use for a number of years, and its adoption in this country has possibly been retarded only for the reason that the potential market did not justify its introduction. Necessity, however, will, in the near future, overrule all other considerations.