Fundamentals of Electric Class Done!

Snap-On circuit board and DMM for training. 

This week finished the first of three consecutive electrical classes, and I really got a charge out of it! It's important to be positive, and not negative when learning about electricity. Yes, that might be shocking to some people, but if you're well-grounded, it's good stuff!

Magnets inside a starter. 
Windings and commutator on the right.

In addition to a lot of classroom time learning about the electrical and starting systems, we managed to take apart a starter AND put it back together! Usually, a bad starter is just replaced with a new one, but there just might be some cases where you could repair the old one. We learned a lot about different types of batteries, how to take care of them, how to diagnose them, and how to blow them up if you do something wrong! One funny part of this was the book answer that you should recharge a battery and not jump start it, so after stating that guidance, the book then explained step-by-step how to jump start a battery the right way! OK, makes sense! 

Got a Snap-On DMM? There’s an app for that!

An essential tool for diagnosing electrical systems is the digital multi-meter (DMM) and I can now announce that I am CERTIFIED in using a Snap-On DMM! Honest, I had to pass a grueling test of living off the wilderness in Siberia for ten days, armed with nothing but a cup of water and a DMM! Wait, that wasn't me! Our test was 35 multiple choice questions, and I passed it on the first try! I thought for sure I'd fail it, and then learn from that and pass on a retake (since you're allowed to test three times) but I just barely passed the first time! I was SHOCKED!

The NMS hybrid on the lift. 

One skill we started developing is using the reference material and learning to read the wiring diagrams for the entire car. Wow. You might have seen some diagrams or seen a video of someone working on a wiring harness for a car, and all I can say is that there are a LOT of little wires all over your car. It made me think that this kind of work is like in old WWII movies, or James Bond Goldfinger, when to defuse the bomb the hero has to cut the red wire...I mean the green wire...NO WAIT, cut the black wire, and save the world! Easy to make a mistake with stuff like that! 

So, what good is this info? Well, here's some cool car electricity trivia tidbits you might be able to toss out and sound like you know something!

1: Yes, you can blow up a car battery if you over-charge it or jump it the wrong way. 

2: Yes, a car battery can freeze. If this happens, don't fast charge it, or #1 will happen. 

3: With so much wiring in your car, there are circuits that power more than one thing, so this is why (for example) your buddies in the garage might play a joke on you and wire your horn to blow whenever you hit the brakes!

4:  If the wrong weight motor oil is used, an engine may crank very slowly or may not start in cold weather. That’s what the textbook says anyway.

5: Poor or incomplete diagnosis accounts for the fact that nearly 80 percent of starters returned as defective on warranty claims work perfectly when tested. Stuff like this happens if you don’t really understand automotive electric systems.