A C182 PILOT REPORTS DEPARTING AFTER A VOLTAGE REGULATOR CHANGE ONLY TO HAVE A TOTAL ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FAILURE REQUIRING AN EMERGENCY DIVERSION.

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MAINT AT ZZZ TROUBLESHOT ELECTRICAL SYS; AND AFTER SEVERAL HRS DETERMINED A NEW VOLTAGE REGULATOR WOULD FIX THE PROB OF BATTERY NOT CHARGING. ON A LONGER THAN NORMAL PREFLT THIS DATE PRIOR TO FLT; A POSITIVE CHARGE WAS SPECIFICALLY NOTED DURING TAXI; RUN-UP; TKOF; AND EARLY CRUISE FLT FROM ZZZ TO ZZZ2. APPROX 15 NM S OF ZZZ VOR; ATC ASKED ME TO 'RECYCLE' MY XPONDER. I LOOKED AT THE XPONDER AND NOTED NO LIGHT. AFTER CHKING THE AMMETER; AND NOTING A DISCHARGE; I REQUESTED CANCELING IFR AND RPTED ZZZ3 ARPT IN SIGHT. A TOTAL ELECTRICAL FAILURE FOLLOWED AS THE BATTERY WAS DEPLETED. USING A BACKUP HAND HELD RADIO ON ZZZ3 UNICOM; I ENTERED THE TFC PATTERN AND AN UNEVENTFUL LNDG FOLLOWED. MAINT AT ZZZ3 EVENTUALLY FOUND A BROKEN WIRE AT THE CONNECTOR TO THE ALTERNATOR FIELD WIRE. THIS WIRE MAY HAVE BEEN WEAKENED DURING THE INSTALLATION OF THE NEW VOLTAGE REGULATOR AND SUBSEQUENTLY FAILED DUE TO THE VIBRATIONS OF START/RUN-UP/TAXI/ETC. TESTED SAME AFTER REPAIR AND PROCEEDED TO DEST; ZZZ2 UNEVENTFULLY THANK GOODNESS. ONE ELECTRIFYING EXPERIENCE A DAY IS ENOUGH!