|
BASICS By Charlie Nowlin Circuits Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day...TEACH him to fish, and he eats for a lifetime! The switch can be either a mechanical on - off , or a relay.
A break anywhere in the circuit is an "OPEN "circuit
It is the Device, (or "load"), that adds to the circuit, a quantity of resistance, needed to absorb the energy of the current. Each device's load can differ. The load, uses the energy, and converts it into heat. This is why a fuse doesn't blow the instant the switch is turned on, which it would as you will see shortly.
In this case, the current has found a path to the source, before the fuse. Since the current in this case doesn't have to flow through the fuse, the fuse does not blow, as it is effectively no longer in the circuit, which shown here, is from the Pos battery terminal to the Neg terminal only. NOTE: Automobiles, use the chassis, as the common, or return wire, as this is less expensive than running a return wire for each device. The proper term for an electrical wire, is "CONDUCTOR". ......So, the "chassis" is also a conductor, because it acts as the return wire. "SHORTS", are caused by: A) Wiring connected to an incorrect terminal, that is common to the chassis, B) Bare , current carrying conductor contacting a "common" or "return" These are the ONLY cases for a "short circuit".
In the above case, a malfunction inside the device, allows current to travel to the common, or return. See B) above. When doing so, the instant the switch is turned on, the fuse blows. Reason?? No load in the closed circuit which equals very low resistance = short circuit
.
Here I have added a symbol, for the chassis common, three horiz lines, spaced closely, with the shape of an arrowhead. This means, that All the places with this symbol, are electrically the same point. It is used, to help make the schematic clearer, and less confusing. You can imagine, what a schematic would look like with hundreds of lines which could be eliminated with a symbol.
Add fuses, and more devices and switches , and you'll get what starts to look like, the complicated wiring schematic of the Automobile. but once you know the basics, you can move to the circuit in question, and easily troubleshoot it.
Next....... RELAYS |
|
Improve your Jag-lovers experience with the Mozilla FireFox Browser!
View the latest posts from our Forums via an RSS Feed! ©Jag-loversTM Ltd / JagWEBTM 1993 - 2024 All rights reserved. Jag-lovers is supported by JagWEBTM For Terms of Use and General Rules see our Disclaimer Use of the Jag-lovers logo or trademark name on sites other than Jag-lovers itself in a manner implying endorsement of commercial activities whatsoever is prohibited. Sections of this Web Site may publish members and visitors comments, opinion and photographs/images - Jag-lovers Ltd does not assume or have any responsibility or any liability for members comments or opinions, nor does it claim ownership or copyright of any material that belongs to the original poster including images. The word 'Jaguar' and the leaping cat device, whether used separately or in combination, are registered trademarks and are the property of Jaguar Cars, England. Some images may also be © Jaguar Cars. Mirroring or downloading of this site or the publication of material or any extracts therefrom in original or altered form from these pages onto other sites (including reproduction by any other Jaguar enthusiast sites) without express permission violates Jag-lovers Ltd copyright and is prohibited |