Cub Cadet CC 500 EL - Manual (Page 10)

ELECTRICAL SYSEM
6
Types of circuits
There are three ways a circuit can be wired. They are:
• Series
• Parallel
• Series/parallel
Series
• Series circuits are wired so that the current has
only one path to follow. See Figure 2.5.
Parallel
Parallel circuits are wired so that current has multiple
paths to follow. See Figure 2.6.
Series/parallel
Series/parallel circuits have some sections wired in
series and some in parallel. See Figure 2.7.
Circuit failures
There are three types of failures that can occur in an
electrical circuit:
1. Shorts
2. Opens
3. Increased resistance
Shorts
A short is when electricity takes a path that it was not
designed to take bypassing a component in the circuit.
An common example of a short is the wire that chafed
through. The bare copper will short the circuit when it
touches a ground source.
Opens
An open is when current can not complete its path back
to the power source.
A common example of this is a blown fuse.
Increased resistance
Increased resistance is as the name implies, an
increase in resistance.
Arguably the most common electrical failure, and the
hardest to find, is when there is a loose connection or
corrosion. It is not an open because there is some cur-
rent that can get through, but the increase in resistance
is enough to affect the circuit
Figure 2.5
Switch
Bulb
Battery
Figure 2.6
Figure 2.7