First, when you have an amp draw problem, the first thing that happens is that a fuse blows. If the fuse doesn't blow for some reason, then you will have melted wires, connectors and a horrible stink. Also, the component itself might smoke and eventually burn up and catch fire. It would be very, very unusual for an alt to burn up because of a component drawing too much amperage. A lot of other stuff would happen first. Also, you'd need an amp draw in excess of 60 amps to burn up the alt and there are only a few wires in the car big enough to support that much current without catching fire. So I think spending a lot of time tip-toeing through all the wiring is going to be fruitless.
Second, you have three problems that I can see from reading the thread. A.) You have alternators that fizzle out on a fairly regular basis. B.) You have some interesting electrical phenomena happening inside the cabin. C.) Right now, you have an alternator that is putting out too little voltage. We've been conflating these throughout the thread, but they might all be separate issues in themselves. More specifically, let's work on the one issue we are sure you have right now (low voltage) and see where that takes us. We'll worry about the other issues later.
There is one circuit in the car that isn't fused and that's the wire that goes to charge the battery. If the battery isn't up to snuff, it can suck up to 40 amps trying to charge itself. If you've deeply discharged it one time, it can be sulfated and need replacement. So I would take a long hard look at the battery. I would probably buy a battery load tester from Harbor Freight to test it also, instead of relying on free tests at the store. I would also buy a proper ammeter so I could see what my amp draws really are under various conditions. A good ammeter will cost you some money, unfortunately. It's great to try to figure this stuff out with the tools you do have, but eventually, if you want to be successful, you have to go out and buy the tools you need.
So there is one circuit that is not fused and also one circuit where the fuse has likely been changed from a stock configuration: the stereo circuit. So I would also take a very close look at the stereo circuit. If it were my car, I would drive with the entire circuit unpowered (pull the fuse) to see if the alternator acts up. If you go for a year with no alternators issues, then you can be fairly confident that your problem is with the stereo wiring.
I know you just installed a new alternator, but are we still working with O'Reilly/Advance/Autozone alternators here? I don't trust those any further than I can throw them. Buy a good alternator and see if you don't get better charging.
Here's some additional reading on the topic that you might want to go through.
http://napaproseries.com/This-the-3rd-one-burn-up-why
http://napaproseries.com/YOUR-ALTERNATOR-WON-T-CHARGE
http://napaproseries.com/Lamp-On-Bad-Alternator
Finally, there are a series of charging system diagnostics in chapter 24 of the
Honda manual and I would definitely go through all of them in their entirety before doing anything else. You'll probably need to buy some more tools to do them, however.
Keep us posted on your results.
Bookmarks