Cub Cadet CC 500 EL - Manual (Page 9)

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
5
DC electricity
Most outdoor power products will use DC electricity to
power its electrical systems. The simple way to look at
DC electricity is that current only flows in one direction.
The value of the current or voltage can vary, but as
long as it does not change polarity it is DC electricity.
The wave form of a battery operated DC system is a
straight line. See Figure 2.4.
The voltage in a DC system does not change polarity
like AC. This mower uses a rectifier to covert AC volt-
age into DC voltage. The rectifier operation will be cov-
ered in a later section of this chapter.
Figure 2.4
DC wave form
Electric circuits
All circuits have some basic rules that must be fol-
lowed:
1. All circuits must have at least one voltage
source. It is could be a battery, an altenator or
both.
2. All circuits must have a load. To make a circuit
with out a load is the same as shorting out the
power source. A load could be:
• a lamp
• a motor
• a resistor
• a starter
3. All circuits must have a complete path back to
the voltage source. This is also known as having
continuity.
4. Most circuits have additional components like
switches and fuses.