Clint Lovell,
After a good nights sleep, and a second look at your post, I think Waldo53 diagnosed the problem right off the bat. If you wire it as you have stated, the BATT, or power wire from the alternator will be tied to a common terminal on the starter solenoid along with the main power coming from the battery which starts the rig.
This type of connection is pretty standard...if you use a volt meter in your dash. If you want a true representation of charge/discharge, your alternator output must go through the ammeter on its way to the battery. This connection would be on the same side as any load.
The way you have described it, the alternator would be able to charge the battery without going through the ammeter, which means, as Waldo pointed out, that the meter would never show a charge, only a discharge from the loads (fuse panel). I think this is how it works.
Stuart
