Posted for erosiak@postoffice.pacbell.net:

As Charles states, in my case the compass error does not go away when the engine is running. I am still struggling to determine what is wrong and I now believe that Charles' opinion regarding the wiring is on track. I was able to swap out the stand-by alternator with another one, and it made no difference.
The good news is I am stubborn and I am not about to allow a wiring problem cancel out my alternator redundancy. Stay tuned.

Ed Rosiak
Super ES