"tron" question for Rodbolt

[boscoe99]

would be nice to see the actual circuit diagram.

Here is the one posted above. Zener diode con*****ing a transistor through a transistor. Transistor is allowing more or less current flow through the field windings.

Instead of current flowing more or less through field windings just think of current being shunted to ground.

[ausnoelm]

The actual windings don't produce any more or less "current" regardless of the load, the magnets are constant strength, and the wire is constant thickness and number of turns, the only variable is the flywheel speed, the regulator does all the fancy work, and supplies the battery with enough to keep it charged, or drops off when it is charged, in a really simplistic way, there is a big (usually cooled) "tap" that controls whether the output goes to the battery, or just to ground, you need to remember this ground is very con*****ed, and is not just a simple shorting device, or heat generated would be extreme, most at sometime would have seen a failed regulator, it's just a melted mess.