Ralph,
I think if you envision the wire from battery side of ammeter to starter switch in your mind...then imagine cutting the insulation and grounding that wire exactly in the middle of its run.
It would cook and fry and turn black only between the point of grounding and the starter switch. That is the path the current took..the half of the wire from cut insulation to ammeter would be basically untouched as it didn't directly pass any current.
Battery power was traveling from the battery, thought the connection on the starter, up the wire and into the ammeter on its way to ground. It didn't destroy anything upstream of the ammeter because the ammeter is where it found a ground.
If you shorted a wire from your BATT regulator connection or your BATT alternator connection, the wires would have cooked all the way to that point...wherever there was a dead short to ground.
Your barbecue was a freak accident. With a good ammeter wired correctly with that single fat wire to starter switch you should have no issues. This is why the industry went to volt meters..they don't series the entire potential of the electrical system...without a fuse yet!
Stuart
