Generators vs Alternators

[John Teufel <phantom@annapolis.net>]

Just thought I'd throw this out and see what comes back.
1) The electrical system on all the cars and trucks I have ever worked
on use DC current. Alternators produce AC current and it has to be
rectified before the car can use it, Generators produce DC voltage and
has no diodes (or rectifier if you prefer) to go bad.
2) An Alternator is not designed to charge a dead battery (all the tech
manuals will tell you this). If you do try to charge a dead battery with
an alternator, you run the risk of burning it up. A generator will
charge a dead battery with no problem.
3) Both generators and alternators need a regulator of some sort so this
is a non issue.
4) Lets see, the down side to a generator is that they don't charge at
low rpm. IMHO alternators don't do such a great gob at idle either. I
will prove this any day with a good volt meter. Turn on the head lights,
and maybe the heater fan and the output from an alternator will drop
down, granted not below 12v but even on brand new cars you can notice
the headlights dim at idle.
5) downside for a generator, size. Alternators are much more suited for
small spaces as generators tend to be a bit large.

well, for what it's worth. this is my opinion on the subject.

John