12V alternator question

On my ole 850 Ford, (12V converted) came home from work one day, dead as a doornail.... hmmm... noticed a hot wire, ( not to battery and only when the ignition is switched on) had come out of a butt connector, probably did not notice it last time I ran it, would this cause an internal voltage regulator to short, once I got it running, saw that it was overcharging now. Well, the battery was good, probably about 7 years worth so far, but something drained it. I'm thinking it's alternator time now and that voltage regulator shorted, but.......

One other odd thing, this is an LP powered 172 cu.in. ford, with an Impco model J vaporizor. Did not want to start once I jumped and or charged up the battery, well uhhhh, no spark or fuel..... ok by myself here so I tried a short snort of ether, definitely got spark so was it not getting fuel, now that is good timing with a dead battery, started to think someone sabotaged me here, so I tapped on the solenoid like thing on the Impco model J like you would on a starter sometimes and this seemed to solve that fuel problem, maybe it hung up but was wondering if something could short in one of those vaporizor solenoids and drain a battery, re-did that vaporizor a few years ago, it's been fine and a fairly easy to start and decent running engine, just seems the darned thing decided to have a mind of it's own since I've been away from it.

I'm gonna guess it is a Delco SI alternator.
You have the main battery wire, and two smaller wires that plug in.
One of those plug in wires should only be hot when the key switch is
turned to start. Then with the key in the run position it should not be hot.
The other terminal controls the indicator light on the dash.

The hot wire from the key switch energizes the magnetic field in the
alternator. After that the regulator takes over and keeps it going.
As long as the hot wire stays hot then the alternator puts out full power.
If it stays hot all the time it will cause the alternator to overcharge the battery.
When it stops being hot and the regulator takes over, the regulator sends
the needed voltage to the field coil so the alternator only puts out the
amount of charge needed. It regulates the magnetic field strength.

To test the alternator, unplug those two little wires from it.
Start the engine and the guage or indicator light should show not charging.
Take a hot wire and just touch it to the two terminals on the alternator.
You should hear the engine RPM slow down and the alternator will start
charging. It will continue charging as long as the engine is running.
Check the voltage output with a volt meter. Should read 13.5 to 14.5 volts.

Pooh Bear

The wire attached to the #1 terminal comes from the dash light which is fed by the key switch. This wire is HOT ALL THE TIME THE SWITCH IS ON. The wire hooked to the #2 terminal is hooked to battery voltage and is hot all the time.