Ok so does this fall in the catagory of stupid human tricks? My gosh, why would you pull the fuse while the car was running? Sorry to blast ya but that is about as bright as using a match to gain a lil extra light to look down into the gas tank to see if it's empty. LOL!

Because...

A) I was trying to diagnose an alt problem. Pulling the fuse while the car was running and a DMM on the battery would tell me if the alt was charging. I was also hoping to to put my meter in place of the fuse and get an idea of how many amps it was putting out.

B) I incorrectly assumed that the fuse marked alt was just connected to the alternator. Pulling it should have disconnected the alternator from the system and the charging should have quit. Same way pulling the headlight fuse just disconnects the headlights. Why would it be different?

I still don't understand why half of the electrical system is on one side if the alt fuse and half on the other. If the fuse blows and it frys the electrical system, what is the point of the fuse?