Steering affects headlight brightness.

**alexaescht** · 21-04-2013, 09:06 PM

It does seem a bit strange though that the super-duper light steering (and so super-duper high voltage, I imagine) electro power steering in mum's Megane makes no difference at all to the brightness of anything.

**wai** · 21-04-2013, 09:17 PM

How is the vehicle driven? Short journeys might not allow the battery to charge properly.

It might be worthwhile to have the state of charge checked out by a battery specialist.

**alexaescht** · 21-04-2013, 09:19 PM

Originally Posted by wai

How is the vehicle driven? Short journeys might not allow the battery to charge properly.

It might be worthwhile to have the state of charge checked out by a battery specialist.

The Polo gets driven almost 200 km a day, all on 100km/h freeways.

The Megane gets driven about 25 km a day on urban roads.

**nomadx38** · 21-04-2013, 09:55 PM

Don't forget the 1.2 / 1.6L engines have extremely small alternators and produce very little power at idle (which is also the time when the power steering will be fully used such as for parking)

Every Polo I have seen does it without fail, the only thing that depends how much it dims is how much you are dry turning (which requires more power to turn) and how fast you are going (the faster the more power the alternator can make)

Not something I would worry about mate...unless is was EXCESSIVE like the lights were going completely out! That may indicate a leak in the circuit...

**wai** · 21-04-2013, 10:00 PM

Originally Posted by alexaescht

The Polo gets driven almost 200 km a day, all on 100km/h freeways.

The Megane gets driven about 25 km a day on urban roads.

There should not be an issue with charging, however the alternator might need checking to make sure it is outputting properly.

On another issue, I like your avatar. Some years ago I did work for the industrial diesel division of the then Daimler Chrysler, and they had a little handbook that had fully dimensioned drawings of their logo, complete with details of colour and how, when and where to use the logo. It must be a German thing

**alexaescht** · 21-04-2013, 11:11 PM

Originally Posted by nomadx38

Don't forget the 1.2 / 1.6L engines have extremely small alternators and produce very little power at idle (which is also the time when the power steering will be fully used such as for parking)

Every Polo I have seen does it without fail, the only thing that depends how much it dims is how much you are dry turning (which requires more power to turn) and how fast you are going (the faster the more power the alternator can make)

Not something I would worry about mate...unless is was EXCESSIVE like the lights were going completely out! That may indicate a leak in the circuit...

Thanks nomadx

Nah it's not doing it excessively, but it does 'blip' the engine a bit as the alternator asks for more power.

**alexaescht** · 21-04-2013, 11:16 PM

Originally Posted by wai

There should not be an issue with charging, however the alternator might need checking to make sure it is outputting properly.

On another issue, I like your avatar. Some years ago I did work for the industrial diesel division of the then Daimler Chrysler, and they had a little handbook that had fully dimensioned drawings of their logo, complete with details of colour and how, when and where to use the logo. It must be a German thing

Thanks

Oh and my avatar – I just found it online a while ago.

Here's the high-res version (can be used as a desktop background)
http://sdrv.ms/11tl6pu

**Hillbilly** · 22-04-2013, 07:48 AM

Originally Posted by nomadx38

Don't forget the 1.2 / 1.6L engines have extremely small alternators and produce very little power at idle (which is also the time when the power steering will be fully used such as for parking)

Every Polo I have seen does it without fail, the only thing that depends how much it dims is how much you are dry turning (which requires more power to turn) and how fast you are going (the faster the more power the alternator can make)

Not something I would worry about mate...unless is was EXCESSIVE like the lights were going completely out! That may indicate a leak in the circuit...

My understanding of an Alternator that is that it will produce as much charging at idle as any other time.
It was the old generator that had to be spun faster to produce more as per this article below

Generator

The speed of the spinning is controlled by the speed of the engine - that's why you need to rev the engine up to help charge the battery faster.
Alternator
The more modern and more capable alternator is explained here. Every modern vehicle uses an alternator - and for good reasons. It is more complicated than a generator, but that added complexity brings a few very good features that you will most certainly want on your vehicle - mainly the fact that it will charge the battery at idle and can support the higher amperages needed to run all of the electrical equipment on a modern vehicle.
In the old days if you had a flat battery you usually took the car for a run to charge the battery Now you just need to turn motor on and let it idle to do it. Well it has worked for me anyway.

**nomadx38** · 22-04-2013, 09:10 AM

Actually a old DC genaerator uses the old technology of pretty much turning a DC motor by an external source. The problem with this was that they were more complicated and the brushes (communicators) wore out. This also made them heavier and could only be spun at same speed of an engine (or they would fall apart).

Alternators use the more simple and wide spread electrical generator setup (used at all power stations) which is a 3 sided electromagnet spinning inside a 3 phase coil. This creates a 3 phase AC current which with modern electronics uses a DC rectifier to convert from AC to DC at high efficiency. The advantage of alternators is that they are simpler and lighter which means that they are geared up to spin at twice the engine speed.

This means that at idle they do produce twice the power than a old generator but they do not produce anywhere near maximum power at idle. The faster it spins the more power, that's how every generator works

**Hillbilly** · 22-04-2013, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by nomadx38

Actually a old DC genaerator uses the old technology of pretty much turning a DC motor by an external source. The problem with this was that they were more complicated and the brushes (communicators) wore out. This also made them heavier and could only be spun at same speed of an engine (or they would fall apart).

Alternators use the more simple and wide spread electrical generator setup (used at all power stations) which is a 3 sided electromagnet spinning inside a 3 phase coil. This creates a 3 phase AC current which with modern electronics uses a DC rectifier to convert from AC to DC at high efficiency. The advantage of alternators is that they are simpler and lighter which means that they are geared up to spin at twice the engine speed.

This means that at idle they do produce twice the power than a old generator but they do not produce anywhere near maximum power at idle. The faster it spins the more power, that's how every generator works

Hmmmm Alternator and Generator Theory

He seems to think Alternators are more complicated .