Good point, and something for everybody to remember. An alternator
charging system  relies upon the load of the battery for voltage
regulation. Remove the battery and the voltage can go sky high at higher
rpms. Over 100 volts anyway, quite enough to roast a few of the more
delicate electrical bits of your Vanagon.
Al Brase

Bob Bolton wrote:

>There's just one important trick with these switches, that I remember from when
>I had them in boats:  NEVER switch them past "Off" with the engine running.
>Apparently this could  blow the diodes in your alternator in a boat, so I
>presume it could do something similar in a car.
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