PA28 PLT HAS ELECTRICAL FAILURE IN IMC DURING APCH WITH LOSS OF COM AND NAV EQUIP; DECLARES AN EMER.

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CHKED IN WITH APCH; DSNDED TO 3000 FT ON THE ARR. LEAVING THE LAST FIX; I WAS CLRED 2000 FT; DIRECT INTXN AND EXPECT THE GPS APCH. AAA ARPT WAS RPTING 700 FT OVCST; WIND 020 DEGS AT 9 KTS. AT 3000 FT; AUTOPLT WAS CHASING +/-100 FT. TURNED OFF ALT HOLD; HAND FLEW LEVEL. HMMMM; NO CONCERN SEEN IT HAPPEN BEFORE; BUT WAIT -- ONLY AT GROSS AND HIGH ALT. HINDSIGHT. AS I WAS ALMOST ABEAM THE FIELD; WITH ABOUT 20 MI TO GO (S TO INITIAL FIX THEN TURN INBOUND) THE CNX80 GPS FLASHED 'UNABLE TO COMMAND XPONDER.' HMMMM. COULDN'T RECYCLE. NEXT; I NOTED THE GPS LIGHT ON THE CDI WAS VERY DIM. HMMMM. NEXT; THE GPS DISPLAY FLICKERED SEVERAL TIMES. EHHH? MAYBE THE BRIGHTNESS FROM IN AND OUT OF CLOUDS. NEVER SEE IT CHANGE THAT FAST. HMMMM. NOW; ABOUT 3 MI SW OF ARPT; FAMOUS AVIATION QUOTE 'WHY IS THAT DOING THAT?' THEN; COM #2 (RADIO) WENT BLANK. MY WORST NIGHTMARE IS COMING TRUE. I BRAG I CAN LOSE GYROS AND VACUUM BECAUSE AUTOPLT IS ELECTRIC. BUT; LOSE ELECTRICITY; NO AUTOPLT NO RADIO; NO NAV OF ANY KIND. IN IMC. APCH TO MINIMUMS. TRAINING KICKED IN. AMMETER LOOKED ZERO (BEAR IN MIND THE SQUARE GAUGE HAS 3 MARKINGS; 0; AT 1/2 WAY 35 AMP; AT R 75 AMP. I AM USED TO SEEING IT AROUND 10-ISH (CLOSE TO ZERO). I SHUT DOWN ALL ELECTRICAL SYS EXCEPT THE GPS. I KEYED THE MIKE AND SAID 'PAN PAN' NO XMIT LIGHT. NO XPONDER TO SQUAWK 7600. NO RADIO TO CALL. (GPS IS SMART; SAVED ENERGY DURING THE EMER BY NOT XMITTING.) DECISION TIME. I COULD HEAR APCH KEEP CALLING ME. I KNEW I HAD A BIZJET FOLLOWING ME #2 FOR THE APCH. I HAVE A DIM LINE SHOWING POS AND FINAL APCH COURSE ON THE GPS. DO I FOLLOW REGS? FLY TO INTXN AS EXPECTED; THEN FLY THE APCH? I DECLARED AN EMER AND IMMEDIATELY TURNED TO THE FINAL FIX. NO REASON TO PROLONG FLT AN EXTRA 7-10 MINS. I HEARD APCH TELL THE BIZJETS (2 NOW) FLY VECTORS 180 DEGS; WE HAVE A MISSING ACFT OVER INTXN. THE CDI DIDN'T WORK; BEST I COULD DO WAS FLY THE AIRPLANE SYMBOL OVER THE COURSE LINE ON THE GPS. I BROKE OUT R AT 700 FT; ABOUT 1000 FT SE OF THE RWY. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT OF BRIGHT LIGHTS. I FLASHED MY LNDG LIGHT AT THE TWR; THAT WAS ENOUGH TO KILL THE GPS. (WHO CARES AT THIS POINT?) NEVER SAW GREEN LIGHT FROM TWR; AGAIN WHO CARES? TAXIED TO PARKING; DEPLANED. IT NOW LOOKS LIKE I LOST THE ALTERNATOR. LOOKS LIKE I FLEW ALMOST 2 HRS ON BATTERY (GILL SEALED; PAY EXTRA FOR IT!). HAVE THE PLANE TOWED TO THE MECHS. OPEN COWLING; PROB FOUND INSTANTLY. THE (PROBABLY $1.00) PART; LUG THAT ATTACHES THE BATTERY WIRE TO THE ALTERNATOR HAD BROKEN OFF; AFTER 1200 HRS OF SVC. CHARGED THE BATTERY; FIXED THE WIRE; PROBABLY GOT OFF FOR UNDER $70. STARTED RIGHT UP; SHOWED 35 AMP CHARGE. LESSONS LEARNED: FROM NOW ON; I WILL KEEP MY HANDHELD GARMIN GPS 196 (WITH APCHS) AND PLENTY OF BATTERIES IN THE ACFT.