A wire on a PA28's alternator came loose in flight causing a loss of electrical power. The Pilot diverted to a nearby airport for maintenance using a handheld radio and in the distraction made some traffic pattern procedural errors.

Narrative

While [I was] on an IFR flight plan; I experienced a total electrical failure when about 15 miles from the airport. When it happened; I was in and out of the cloud base. I immediately descended to about 9;300 feet to stay in VFR conditions. I could see my destination and another nearby airport. I pulled out my handheld radio and tried to contact ATC. I eventually got a hold of them and they told me to maintain 9K feet. I acknowledged and did that. They cleared me to the other airport (I asked to go there instead of my original destination thinking there would be better GA repair facilities). I was cleared to the airport and told to contact the Tower. I contacted Tower and was told to report on downwind of the runway. Since I was distracted with the noise in the cockpit; I forgot to contact Tower on downwind and called them on final. They said I should have contacted them on downwind and I also lost track of other traffic in the pattern (it was on a right downwind). I apologized to the Controller and eventually landed on the runway. A mechanic on the field found the post on the alternator had fallen off and was probably arcing. In hindsight I probably should have declared an emergency. I didn't think it was warranted at the time though since I could see the field and I knew the plane would keep running even with a dead battery. But the noise and difficulty of using a handheld in the cockpit was a difficult situation.