Tom,
A big congratulations! This scenario makes sense, the errant connection at the alternator was pulling excess current and tripping and cycling the thermal breaker. Apparently this errant wiring was also back feeding voltage to the output side of key switch circuit wiring, that kept the ignition on at a marginal voltage level, so it would not repeatedly shut down when you turned the key off.
There is a lesson here about retracing steps of electrical work that has been done recently by someone else, if something isn't right. Although you would like to think that you would not have to, verifying that the wiring is correct, and the electrical connections are tight after someone works on your coach is probably a good practice if you have the skills. It is especially easy for a tech to mix up wiring when you are not using an exact replacement part and another alternator in this case may have differing terminal placement or labeling.
Later Ed