Alternator Quit ( I think)

I had an issue with a small wire corroding off of the alternator. It was small red wire that ran from the alternator's positive lug to the internator regulator. It is a self-exciting regulator. With the wire off the regulator, their was nothing to tell it to start allowing voltage to flow. Since the wire was under the alternator, I never saw the issue until I outlayed a fortune on a new alternator. In fact I thought that the new alternator was bad too and ordered another one. It was during my second attempt that I notice a wire just hanging down. I connected it and it was all good. The original alternator was already sent back as a core by the time I found my mistake. Oh well.

FYI: some manufacturers have a fused circuit for the wire that I was talking about, so check the fuse box to see if there is one.