A battery isolator is one kind of charging equipment that charges your vehicle’s battery from the engine or combustion system. Generally, battery isolators are attached to your car’s alternator. The alternator generates electricity, while the isolator divides that current into different branches, allowing your vehicle’s battery to be recharged.
The working principle of an isolator isn’t all that critical. If you are interested in knowing how does a battery isolator work, continue reading this article. You will learn everything you need to know about the operation of an isolator.
Working Procedure Of An Isolator
An isolator is a tiny square or round-shaped electrical charge controlling mechanism with a built-in smart microcomputer and microprocessor unit. Every car isolator has four connectors or terminals, two large and two small. Among these four connectors, two big terminals are attached to your car’s primary and backup batteries, respectively. One of the remaining two tiny connectors is linked to the vehicle alternator, while the other is attached to the chassis or the ground.
When you start your vehicle’s engine, the alternator creates power in the form of electricity. The isolator will carry this electric charge to your vehicle’s primary and backup batteries via a conduction channel or vehicle’s electric circuit.
The isolator first sends the electrical charge to the main battery. The voltage level of the main battery is continually monitored by the isolator’s sensor and microprocessor. When the voltage level of the main battery reaches 13.6v (volts), the Isolator pushes the energy flow for 20 seconds.
When the computer detects that the primary battery is completely charged, the isolator links both main and backup batteries to the alternator in parallel connection. As a result, electricity will be transmitted to the backup batteries from the alternator. In this way, an isolator charges your primary and secondary batteries from the vehicle’s engine.
How To Ensure The Isolator Is Working?
There is a technique to check if your battery isolator is functioning properly or not. This will require an instrument known as an electrometer. The electrometer will measure the flow of power in ohms to verify the efficacy of your battery isolator.
To do so, first separate the isolator’s two positive connections. Please be careful not even to touch any metals or the ground while doing that. Now attach your electrometer to these two connections with an alligator cable and measure the power. The reading of the electrometer should be 0 (zero) ohms. If the measurement is zero ohms, that means that the isolator is operational. But it is connected to a separate circuit.
Frequently Asked Question(FAQ)
Q: What happens if my battery isolator stops working?
Answer: The battery isolator in your car prevents the electrical system from pooling electricity from both the primary and backup batteries at the same time. If your car’s isolator stops working, the electrical equipment will quickly discharge all of the batteries, which will cause multiple system failures.
Q: How can I know whether my isolator is working or not?
Answer: Examine your cells’ voltage. If the voltage is 12.7 volts or lower, you are most likely looking at the battery voltage and your battery is not charging. This indicates that the battery isolator in your car is not working.
Q: Is it possible for a battery isolator to malfunction or stop working?
Answer: Yes isolators sometimes fail to connect your vehicle’s batteries with the alternator due to physical damage or an internal short circuit.
Q: If my battery isolator stops working, can I reset it?
Answer: Yes, you definitely can. Many difficulties may be solved with a simple reset. To do so, press the reset or override switch on the isolator’s top.
Conclusion
To understand what a battery isolator is, you must understand How Does A Battery Isolator Work. Until you know how the isolator works, your knowledge will be incomplete. If you are a mechanic or try to fix your own car, your lack of understanding can damage your car’s working system or even put your life in danger.
So, prior to attempting to fix the battery charging system on your car, take the time to familiarize yourself with the isolator.
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