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fess wrote: > > On Mar 23, 2005, at 7:35 AM, Jim Adney wrote: > >> I think the only thing that will make the generator harder to spin >> will be bad >> bearings. > > > hmm. well, it really does warm up and idle better since I replaced the > generator, even on the colder mornings. It's very strange. Any generator will increase rotational resistance (not to be confused with electrical resistance) as more load is put on it. In this particular application, in a properly functioning system the differences might be negligible, but take a bad generator and all bets are off. I surmise that it is plausable that on an improperly functioning generator/charging system if more load is put on it, it may have a significantly greater rotational resistance than a properly functioning one. A real world example: My wife's truck had a loose alternator belt. I realized it was the alternator belt because when I'd put a surge electrical demand on it (turning on the headlamps and highbeams, accelerating and making the injectors and coilpacks fire faster) the belt would squeal and the voltmeter would drop about 1.5 volts. What was happening is that load was increasing on the alternator, making it drag a little bit on the belt (because suddenly more force was needed to turn it), until rotational resistance either abated or the belt got hot enough from friction to stick. So... a generator will be harder to turn if more load is on it. How much of an issue this is depends on the state of the generator/charging system and the loads being placed on it. I should dig up one of the EE's in the office. They could give a better technical explanation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~