dynamo
Sign in to savethumb|"Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, )
Article
18 sectionsContents
- History
- Induction with permanent magnets
- First dynamos
- Self excitation
- Practical designs
- Rotary converters
- Limitations and decline
- Etymology
- Design
- Commutation
- Excitation
- Self-start
- Uses
- Historic
- Modern
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|"Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, )
A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos employed electromagnets for self-starting by using residual magnetic field left in the iron cores of electromagnets (i.e. field coils). If a dynamo were never run before, it was usual to use a separate battery to excite or flash the field of the electromagnets to enable self-starting. Dynamos were the first practical electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundation upon which many other later electric-power conversion devices were based, including the electric motor, the alternating-current alternator, and the rotary converter.