Description of electrical equipment

Without a battery, a starter, a generator and about 17 kilometers of copper wire, almost NOTHING works in your Mondeo - at least not coordinated: with a discharged battery, the starter strikes, without a starter, the engine is silent, without an engine, the generator is resting, and without a copper wire, all three leading players remain out of work.

Electricity - «life juice» for engine management

Like all cars, your Mondeo is powered by electricity while you drive. Its subsystems, such as engine management, fuel injection or lighting, depend on «current». And with such a dependence, it is not surprising that many drivers associate their unpleasant incidents with the trio: battery - generator - starter. Their cause most often lies under the hood of the engine, that is, in the places of residence and work of these three main artists and their periphery. In their defense, we can say the following: the working conditions prevailing there are not so ideal: sometimes it is cold, most often it is too hot, sometimes it is humid, and sometimes it is wet. In addition, many current consumers are sitting in the places of exposure - therefore, failures in the on-board electrical engineering are already programmed. In addition, the battery capitulates sometimes before a hard frost or extreme heat.

Easy to fix - minor troubles in on-board electrical engineering

After listening to a lecture on this chapter, of course, no more convincing arguments come to mind for capitulating to «dead» switch or «black» light bulb. Most often in this «involved» got «along the way» rusty wire connection or rusty contact. Most faults in on-board electrical engineering can be corrected by simple means. Even if you are not «a certified strippen worm» and you lack all ambitions to become a professional electrician.

TECHNICAL DICTIONARY

Basic concepts of electrical engineering electrical voltage (current) flows only in a closed electrical circuit. Electrical circuits consist of a current producer (e.g. battery, alternator), consumer (e.g. incandescent lamp, starter, electric motor) and cable bundles with their individual wires. Cable bundles implement connections between producers and consumers of current. The following example clearly explains the basic concepts of electrical engineering: imagine a water supply network in which water of a certain amount flows from point A under a certain pressure (manufacturer) to point B (consumer). Something similar happens in the electrical circuits of your Mondeo. For example, when the light comes on automatically in the cabin when the door is opened. Voltage: It corresponds to the water pressure in the water supply. Voltage unit - Volt (IN). Current: Corresponds to the flow of water that flows over a certain period of time through the pipeline. Current unit - Ampere (A). Power: The product of voltage and current. It also determines how much power the electrical consumer receives from the current producer. Specified in Watts (Tue). Resistance: It can be compared to a shut-off water tap. If it is fully opened, then water flows freely into the pipeline (resistance 0). A closed tap continuously increases resistance, and so on until it stops flowing altogether (resistance ∞). The dimension of this quantity is ohm (W). The wire: Corresponds to the water manifold. Required wire thickness (section) depends on the consumer: pilot lamps are quite manageable with a wire thickness of 0.5 mm2. On the contrary, a consumer such as a starter already requires a wire with a cross section of 16 mm2 - in our example, this would correspond to the connection of the main pipeline. A thin wire heats up quickly - and the voltage inevitably drops. As a result, for example, not 12 Volts, but only 10 or even 9.5 Volts reach the headlights - this becomes noticeable in the dim light.

PRACTICAL ADVICE

Battery regulations In Germany, for the purchase and disposal of a starter battery, regulations have been in force for several years «battery». However, they are still not known to the end user. Although this set of rules is equally addressed to the seller, the workers of the workshop and the end user. According to it, the end user must dispose of the old battery through a dealer or a workshop. Returns are free of charge, but special rules apply to new purchases of the starter battery. Our review presents the most important points. For a starter battery that you purchase from a retailer or workshop, the retailer automatically charges «returnable deposit» in the amount of 7 euros. As proof of purchase, you will receive a receipt or a pledge stamp. There is a major exception to these rules: you will not be charged a deposit if you return the old battery when you purchase it. If the seller or workshop has already calculated the deposit price for the old battery, then you get your money back upon presentation of the receipt. You can redeem your deposit from the seller only when buying a new battery. To do this, you must hand over the old battery and the receipt (pledge stamp). The old battery, of course, does not have to be identical with the purchased starter battery: you can return any starter battery with a receipt. Upon purchase, return the old battery for which you have not yet paid a deposit, no matter where the battery comes from: for a new battery, the deposit price is not included in the price.