standzchop

hello...i'm new to this site. i just picked up my first 98'superhawk...the three wires coming out of the alt. were cut... it looks like they clipped a connector out of the loom...i respliced the three yellow wires and one yellow/blue stripe wire.....my problem is this.....when connecting the battery i'm getting a big blue spark at the neg post..as if something is drawing a strong current...even though the ign. is off. so i disconnected the reg/rectifier cause it was getting hot.......now there isn't a draw at the battery.....my question is this... can a reg/rectfier go bad and cause a draw even though the ign. is off??? ...............or did i connect something wrong????thnx in advance for the help....standzchop