The field connection on a battery switch is there to protect the alternator diodes in the event that the battery switch gets turned to the off' position while the alternator is spinning. If there is still field current but no load (battery) the output voltage of an alternator will very quickly rise high enough to destroy the diodes. Thus the field connection in the battery switch is designed to open before the battery connection, shutting down the alternator. DO NOT rely on this, as the time it takes the magnetic field in the alternator to collapse may often be enough time to destroy the diodes.
Eric Thompson S/V Procrastinator South San Francisco [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
