Chapter 9 - Electrical
296
7. How the system is wired together
The Rules: All circuits have some basic rules that
must be followed:
7a. All circuits must have at least one voltage
source. It is could be a battery, an altena-
tor or both.
7b. All circuits must have a load. A circuit with-
out a load the same as shorting out the
power source. Typical loads could be:
_ lights
_a motor
_a solenoid
7c. All circuits must have a complete path
back to the voltage source. This is also
known as having continuity.
NOTE: On outdoor power equipment, the frame
of the machine is frequently used as the return
path to the battery. This is referred to as ground-
ing the machine.
Any point on the frame should be the same as
the negative post of the battery (Electrically)
unless there is a bad connection between the
battery and the frame or between the frame and
the component or cable that is assumed to be
grounded to it.
7d. Most circuits have additional components
like switches and fuses.
Types of circuits
There are three ways a circuit can be wired:
•Series
• Parallel
• Series/parallel
Series
• Series circuits are wired so that the current has
only one path to follow. If one component in the
system fails, the circuit will be broken and whole
system will not work. See Figure 9.47.
Parallel
• Parallel circuits are wired so that current has
multiple paths to follow. If a component in one of
the parallel paths fails, the rest of the circuit will
keep working. See Figure 9.48.
Figure 9.47
Switch
Battery
Lamp
Figure 9.48
Battery
Lamp
Lamp
Lamp
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