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Good point, Brent.

One way to do it would be to bring the output of the alternator to the
anodes of TWO silicon power diodes (before it goes anywhere else) and then
run a line from the individual cathodes to each battery. They'd have to be
pretty hefty diodes, capable of handling the maximum charge current that the
alternator could put out, and they'd have to have adequate heat-sinks. I
would opt for somewhere around 100 amp units, for instance, for my 60 amp
alt. (but would have to be sized for each individual installation). These
things are available, but they're probably going to be about the size of a
hockey puck on steroids plus the heat-sink. Then you'd have to jack up the
regulator's setting to add back the 0.6 volts or so lost across them.

Still, it might be worth the trouble for the redundancy provided. Good
quality diodes of this type, operated within their capacity, are not faliure
prone.

Dan Schaefer

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