Ah thanks guys - my limited IT ability prevented me doing that!
Hopefully this all now makes sense to CLDriver?
So the output of the alternator will be carried on 4 wires*; One for each coil (known as a 'phase'), and one connected to the neutral point which serves all three phases.
A piece of equipment needing low power 115V will connect between one phase and the neutral point. A piece of equipment needing high power will use all three 115V phases, each returning to neutral - feeding either three separate heating elements in a windshield or prop de-ice boot, or three separate coils in a hydraulic pump motor for example.
A piece of equipment needing 200V would connect between two of the phases and not neutral.
(*A delta system as shown in Lightning's second diagram above is configured differently and uses only 3 wires, but the principle is similar).
Last edited by Uplinker; 4th Jul 2013 at 11:16.