JOE,
I think Vaughn was refering to the 3 wire alternator discharging and draining the battery when wired improperly. On the 1 wire unit, the alternator output would attach in a conventional manner, to the starter, a solenoid or wherever you choose, although I'm not clear on why you would mount a block, or blocks to the firewall and put the wire there!
In a 3 wire system, the one with the plug in the back, the #1 (R) wire is switched to only be engergized when running...the #2 (F) is attached in the circuit, unswitched, to sense battery voltage. If a diode fails in the bridge rectifier, it allows the battery to drain through the #2 wire and discharge. . I am not sure if Vaughn suggested "switching" the #2 wire to save the battery in case of a bridge failure, but this isn't SOP anywhere I know of. If the bridge fails, it might drain your battery, but the bridge has still failed and the alternator needs to be repaired or replaced.
It is not complicated to hook the 3 wire alternators up properly. Which one you choose would be a personal choice based on your needs. Gee, I hope I got this right.
Stuart.
