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Best thing I’ve found is to use analogies, apt analogies. Amps are a measure of flow, like water, like gallons per second. Volts are somewhat like height. Thick wires are like wide pipes. Insulators are like blockages. Switches are like valves.
see if this helps.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-electrical-problems
Start at the power source, follow the wires to each switch, through each switch, to the load, then out the other side of the load to chassis ground which goes back to the battery. Every live circuit is a complete loop.
Here is a great video on electrical testing and understanding voltage testing by Eric’s friend Scannerdanner
The best automotive electric book I’ve found is called “Fundamental Electrical Troubleshooting” by Dan Sullivan. He has a working man’s,no nonsense,logical approach to teaching basic automotive electrical. I think you can get it from Amizon the cheapest. Well worth it.Best of luck in your studies Seth.
[quote=”roywrench22″ post=75991]The best automotive electric book I’ve found is called “Fundamental Electrical Troubleshooting” by Dan Sullivan. He has a working man’s,no nonsense,logical approach to teaching basic automotive eleht now.ctrical. I think you can get it from Amizon the cheapest. Well worth it.Best of luck in your studies Seth.[/quote]
An excellent book. If anyone is looking for it, you need to search Amazon for ” Electronic Specialties” as the author, looks like they bought the rights to Dan’s book. ASEwave aslo carries the book and looks like it is on sale rig
Electrical is a very enjoyable thing to do, as you are working on systems that a lot of technicians have very little understanding of.
I think the single most important thing when it comes to electrical work is never forget to respect the electricity. I’ve gotten some nasty surprises over the years from some relatively unexpected places lol. Always be aware, always work safe.
A car is a unique environment for electricity. Wiring and connections are subjected to extremes in temperature, high humidity, vibration, dirt, salt, plus typical wear and tear. Just about the first thing I look at in any electrical trouble shooting are connections. Where is the ground path, and is it good? If it is something grounded on the engine, is the engine grounded to the battery properly? If it is a circuit grounded to the chassis, is there a proper ground from body to battery, and are those ground connections clean and tight. Anywhere there is a connector in the circuit is a good place to check, verify that the terminals in that connector are clean, and the connector is engaged tightly.
A lot of electrical problems in cars come back to dirty / corroded / loose connections.
[quote=”college man” post=75929]see if this helps.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-electrical-problems%5B/quote%5D
There is quite a bit in here on electrical.
Start off by reading Eric’s articles on electrical systems, and watch his video’s. Then, go to realfixesrealfast.com there is a 6 part lesson plan on electrical systems and wiring diagrams. 😉
Here are two websites that have helped me tremendously. One is http://www.circuitlab.com which allows you to diagram and test various types of circuits in a simulated environment. Another one is the PhET project from the University of Colorado Boulder which has dozens of physics and electricity simulators of various kinds that you can mess around with. For me sometimes being able to visually see the results of my actions really helps to cement my understanding of the concept. Something as simple as Ohms law just makes so much more sense to me now since I played around with their 12V DC Circuit simulator.
[quote=”AUwarrior” post=78757]Here are two websites that have helped me tremendously. One is http://www.circuitlab.com which allows you to diagram and test various types of circuits in a simulated environment. Another one is the PhET project from the University of Colorado Boulder which has dozens of physics and electricity simulators of various kinds that you can mess around with. For me sometimes being able to visually see the results of my actions really helps to cement my understanding of the concept. Something as simple as Ohms law just makes so much more sense to me now since I played around with their 12V DC Circuit simulator.
http://www.circuitlab.com
http://phet.colorado.edu/%5B/quote%5DSweet, thanks for sharing that.
Since my specialty is automotive electrical, that simulator is right up my alley.
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