OK guys, I guess the only thing I'm taking away from this is
1) some boats are designed so it is easy to make mistakes with the switch.
2) The Captain has not installed a plackard near the poorly engineered switch so he (or anybody else) does not have to remember which way to turn the switch. something like "<--OFF - 1 - Both - 2 -->" and a magnet/ring on one of 4 pins above the words/etc to indicate the current state of the switch. or a mirror...... lots of things you could do in about 15 minutes to make it brother-in-law proof.
Still not buying the switch can blow the diodes and think it is an alternator sense wire location issue and the switch in off or the "other bank" position just keeps the regulator from knowing what the alternator is actually doing. My argument is the LC (inductanc/capacitance) of that circuit is so low there is not much of a chance of a spike being formed that could blow a 50V diode. Course if you have an energized (is actively carring current in its winding) solenoid (starter, battery isolation, etc) in that circuit and did not properly "filter" it with a capacitor you could certainly get 50 volts by turning off the switch and dumping all that magnetic field into the circuit.
3) I'm slowly getting the opinion that somebody changed the basic laws of physics sometime in the late 90s.
1) some boats are designed so it is easy to make mistakes with the switch.
2) The Captain has not installed a plackard near the poorly engineered switch so he (or anybody else) does not have to remember which way to turn the switch. something like "<--OFF - 1 - Both - 2 -->" and a magnet/ring on one of 4 pins above the words/etc to indicate the current state of the switch. or a mirror...... lots of things you could do in about 15 minutes to make it brother-in-law proof.
Still not buying the switch can blow the diodes and think it is an alternator sense wire location issue and the switch in off or the "other bank" position just keeps the regulator from knowing what the alternator is actually doing. My argument is the LC (inductanc/capacitance) of that circuit is so low there is not much of a chance of a spike being formed that could blow a 50V diode. Course if you have an energized (is actively carring current in its winding) solenoid (starter, battery isolation, etc) in that circuit and did not properly "filter" it with a capacitor you could certainly get 50 volts by turning off the switch and dumping all that magnetic field into the circuit.
3) I'm slowly getting the opinion that somebody changed the basic laws of physics sometime in the late 90s.