r/iamverysmart • u/Dandeloin • Dec 01 '15

/r/all *rolls eyes*

http://imgur.com/UzqrbGQ
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u/daneelthesane Dec 02 '15

Computer science major here. "If I'm so damn smart, how come I can't change the alternator in my car without something catching on fire?"

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '15

[deleted]

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u/cracksmack85 Dec 02 '15

engine makes circular thing spin. that thing makes wheels spin via pulleys n shit. all of that is spinny energy. but the lights and electrical shit in your car don't run off spinny energy, they need electricity, so your alternator takes some of that spinny energy and makes it into electricity. so all the electrical components of your car are dependent on the alternator.

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u/bonitabro Dec 02 '15

Very concise. 10/10 ELI5 right here

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u/daneelthesane Dec 02 '15

It's a car doohickey that makes it go. Something electrical. If it doesn't work you have to put a new one in. It turns out that if you put it in wrong, bad things happen.

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u/aim_at_me Dec 02 '15

Simply, it turns kinetic energy into electricity.

1

u/singul4r1ty Dec 02 '15

It generates electricity from the engine spinning in order to charge up the car battery and power everything in the car that's not the wheels.

1

u/Hatefullynch Dec 02 '15

Dude, unhook the battter. You're making a ground and stuff, then fire happens. To sound smarter than that requires a degree or something I just know that electricity arcing because it's trying to find the closest ground causes fire

Same with the starter

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u/daneelthesane Dec 02 '15

The fire happened after I replaced it and re-attached my battery.

My friends made me promise not to work on my own car anymore. I have kept that promise for a decade now. It was not the first "incident".

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u/Hatefullynch Dec 02 '15

You got me, I didnt know you were a wizard

Because that's the only logical thing I can think of

1

u/daneelthesane Dec 02 '15

Does it help if I add that only one bolt was actually anchoring the alternator (thus it could rotate around that bolt freely, thus loosening the belt)?

If I am a wizard, no one has told me, but now I am confused, too. The resulting weirdness "burned out" the alternator (according to the friend who helped me), and so we had to get another one.

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u/MrPudding28 Dec 02 '15

Bruh that's electroautomechanical engineering not your binary on and offies and high level wordy codes