The car is equipped with a low-maintenance (or unattended) 55 Ah rechargeable battery (for more information, see. "Battery - description"). The battery ensures the operation of the starter when starting the engine, as well as the operation of the car's security system while parked, and the operation of the electric door lock drive (central lock) and other electrical equipment when the engine is not running.
Note. The electrical equipment of the engine control system of the VAZ 2110, VAZ 2111, VAZ 2112 is considered in a separate chapter (see "Engine management system").
When the engine is running, power is supplied from the generator (for more information, see. "Generator - device, description, diagram"). Part of the energy produced by the generator is spent on recharging the battery. If several powerful consumers of electrical energy are turned on at the same time (fog lights and headlights, heated rear window and heated seats, windscreen wiper, electric heater fan), then the voltage in the network will be insufficient to charge the battery.
Tip: If your vehicle is regularly driven in short stop-start mode, you should have the battery checked regularly and recharged if necessary (especially in winter).
In case of generator failure, the car's electrical equipment will operate from the battery. The engine operating time in this mode will depend on the battery's charge level and the number of electrical consumers turned on.
Most electrical consumers are supplied with power via the ignition switch
(except for emergency, sound and light alarms, interior lighting, side lights, brake lights, security alarms and electric door locks). Switches and toggles for the main and additional electrical equipment are installed on the instrument panel trim, on the central console of the instrument panel and on the steering column. Some switches for additional equipment are installed on the floor tunnel trim (for more details, see. "Controls on the floor tunnel overlay", p. 1-5 and 10-14).
Power supply chains for powerful consumers of electrical energy (headlights, windshield wiper, heated rear window, electric radiator fan, fog lights) are switched via a relay. The windshield and rear window wipers, headlight wipers, hazard warning lights and turn signals are also switched on via a relay.
All electrical circuits of the car (except for the power circuits of the starter and generator) protected by fuses.
The fuse's rated operating current is indicated on its body. In addition, the fuse body's color corresponds to a specific current value:
- 5 A beige;
- 7.5 A brown;
- 10 A red;
- 15 A blue;
- 20 A yellow;
- 25 A white;
- 30 A green.
Fuses and relays are installed in the mounting block (for details see. "Mounting block of fuses and relays - device, description").
The electrical wiring is assembled into bundles of copper wires with multi-colored insulation.
Most electrical connections of electrical equipment are made using connectors.
To find faults in electrical equipment, you should have a tester - a combined electrical measuring device. Such devices come in several types: analog with an arrow indicator; digital with liquid crystal display; universal - having both an arrow indicator and a liquid crystal display. When repairing a car, it is more convenient to use a digital device (or as it is also called a multimeter, see. "Special tools and devices", p. 23). It is compact and shows accurate values at any position in space.
To check de-energized circuits, the multimeter is switched to ohmmeter mode. When measuring very small resistance (within a few ohms) it is necessary to introduce a correction - subtract the internal resistance of the multimeter, the electrical resistance of its wires and probes from the obtained value (usually 0.6-0.8 Ohm). To accurately determine this correction, you should switch the device to the mode for measuring small resistance values (up to 200 Ohm) and short-circuit the ends of its probes.
To check live circuits, the multimeter is switched to voltmeter mode (with a measurement limit of up to 20 V). The multimeter allows you to measure the current consumed by the vehicle's electrical equipment (up to 10 A).
If it is necessary to determine only the presence or absence of voltage in a section of the circuit without measuring the value, it is more convenient to use a special 12 V light indicator (see "Special tools and devices", item 24) or a control lamp that you can make yourself (from a car lamp with a power of no more than 4 W, soldering two wires at least 50 cm long to it).
Advice: When searching for the causes of a malfunction of any electrical equipment, first make sure that its fuse is in good condition (see "Mounting block of fuses and relays - device, description" table 13.4) and reliable contact in the connectors of its circuit. Oxidized terminals of the connection blocks are a common cause of electrical equipment failure; clean them if necessary. Check especially carefully the connection points of the negative terminals of the electrical equipment with the "ground". Often it is the lack of reliable contact with the "ground" that leads to malfunctions in the electrical equipment.