Colyn,

 

You've jumped way beyond me at this point.  I'm not sure how an alternator "shorts" but anything on either of my busses (except for the big wire that feeds them) is on either a circuit breaker or fuse.  The only unprotected wires are the ones running from my batteries to my contactors.  I have those big fuses (current limiters) inline from my alternators that are supposed to protect my busses from a "runaway alternator", not really sure what that means either.

 

Coming out of the paint shop, I had a really dead battery, wouldn't even hold a charge.  I flew to the West coast with one battery and two alternators.  I just left my backup 20 amp alternator off and flipped the crossfeed switch and had a solid electrical system, with an alternator waiting in the wings if I needed it.  The flights were VFR day, but over some rough terrain.  I justified the flight by reasoning that I had more electrical system in my 3/4 working ES than any certified aircraft I'd ever owned, except for my Mooney 252 with a second alternator.

 

I think Bob Nuckols tries to balance the complexity with failsafe design.  It might be interesting to hear Bob's response to your EE's comments.  The more switches we add, the more failure points we introduce.  I guess what I'm saying is I'm not sure the EE failure modes are ones that are likely to occur, but like I said earlier, I'm not going head-to-head with an EE, you are beyond my knowledge base already.

 

Mike