"Vito" wrote in message
...
Ed Price wrote:

.... So how does causing a massive current through the alternator diodes
provide protection?

By limiting voltage. Diodes can tolerate massive current for short
(milli or microsecond) periods of time without damage from overheating,
but excess voltage spikes of the same duration may "zap" the crystal
matricies that make them work as diodes.

In the long history of alternator existence, Xentrex has been the only one
to notice that alternators need a transient suppressor on their output
terminal?

Another poster contends that the alternator experiences several hundred
milliseconds of overvoltage before its regulation can adjust to a load
cut-off. A couple of hundred milliseconds dumping a hundred amps or so into
the short-circuit that the Zap-stop presents is bad news for alternator
diodes.

Please address my initial comment; why does Xentrex put the "protection" on
the wrong (my assertion) side of the alternator diodes?

Ed