XPost: sci.electronics.equipment, sci.electronics.design, sci.el   
   ctronics.basics   
   From: fbt@fbt.net   
      
   > One problem with this arrangement... if the red idiot light burns out   
   > or a wiring fault opens the circuit, the alternator won't "bootstrap"   
   > the next time you start the car, and you won't (of course) get any   
   > red-light warning.  Dead battery, here we come.   
   >   
   > Ask me how I know :-(   
      
   That's why you LOOK at the Idiot Light when you turn the ignition switch on,   
   just before you start the engine. A lit ALT bulb means it is present and   
   functioning.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)