[sastanley]

rick, I think if you did that, and put the ammeter shunt (I assume you will use a shunt style) then you can only see current thru the alt to the battery...i think...meaning, it is a one-way gauge. I personally have never used a shunt style....in my '78 Civic, I had an ammeter and had to run a cable from the battery to the gauge and back before it went to anything else. What a pain!

If you want to measure in & out current of the battery, you need to wire the boat so that wherever your ammeter is located ALL current passes in both directions thru that cable. It isn't complicated, but can require long runs of thick gauge wire.

I chose to eliminate my ammeter (in the gauge pod in the cockpit) and have a short run from the alternator plate directly to the battery. I like rigs' idea....if you see ~14 on a volt meter when the engine is running, you know the alt. is working. Amps are cool, but it is a lot of extra work to see it!