Saab SONETT III Service Manual page 51

ALTERNATOR
General
While the car is running, the alternator supplies the current
needed by the various items of electrical equipment and
at the same time charges the battery.
To remove the heat generated in the alternator, its drive
pulley is provided with fan vanes that draw air through the
alternator as long as it is running.
The alternator is driven by a belt from a pulley on the crank-
shaft and is located on the right-hand side of the engine.
NOTE
The charge indicator light is used to excite the al-
ternator. It should have a power of 1.2-2 W.
CAUTI ON
Before any electric weld ing is done on a car equipped
with an AC generator (alternator), the battery ground
cable and all wiring to the alternator must be discon-
nected, as the rectifier diodes may otherwise be dam-
aged.
IMPORTANT
The generator must not be run with the battery dis-
connected. The battery cable connections must not
be reversed, as this will result in serious damage to
the alternator.
The alternator needs very little maintenance, as no
carbon brushes or commutators are needed to con-
duct the power produced. It has two slip rings and
two brushes to supply exciter current to the rotor
field windings, but these slip rings and brushes are
subjected to such small loads that they do not nor-
mally need attention.
Consequently, no maintenance schedule has been
set up for this alternator. Any necessary repairs
should be done by a specialist electrical workshop;
it is essential that disassembly and testing are prop-
erly carried out, as even small errors may result in
extensive damage.
S2157
ALTERNATOR
1. Drive end frame
2. Stator
3. Slip ring end bracket
4. Rotor
321-1
SAAB
Nov. 1972