Basically I bought a new battery about 2 months ago, and it went completely dead. so i got another battery and a new alt 55volt. Everything ran fine no problems but today the battery went dead. not sure where to go from here considering im just getting into fixing up older cars. i bought the new battery about 1 month ago maybe less. any help will be appreciated....thank you for the help

Get a test light from the auto parts store.
Disconnect the negative battery from the battery.
Put one end of the test light to the negative post.
Put the other end to the negative cable.
If you do not have a clock or a newer stereo with a memory the light should not light up.
If it does light up, something is taking power while the car is sitting.
If it does not light up you have a charging problem.

A simple test is to unhook the battery while the engine is running. If is dies the altenator is not working. It also could be a bad diode in the altenator, which will let the battery go to a ground and discharge the battery when not running.

Never disconnect the battery while the engine is running, you can fry anything that the voltage can get to

I havent been able to work on the car since i posted this but tomorrow im going to be working on it. I was thinking that i would get a new battery first then go buy some new battery cables and see if that works. Kindof low on cash this month and im not sure how much a test light will cost. But let's say there is a charging problem...would it be because of the new alt? maybe it was a bad seed or something i dunno. I'll probably just get another alt since i have a lifetime warranty on it. see what happens from there....thanks for the help any other suggestions will be helpful...thank you.

Originally posted by Dean:
Never disconnect the battery while the engine is running, you can fry anything that the voltage can get to What do you mean anything the voltage can get to? Unhooking the battery is not going to hurt anything.

Unhooking the battery while the engine is running creates a spike, creates unfiltered DC, and creates a spark. It doesn't tell you if the system is putting out a nominal 14.5 volts to keep the battery up.
http://www.duboismarketing.com/alttests2.html

Originally posted by Xedus:
Kindof low on cash this month and im not sure how much a test light will cost. They can be bought for around $4.00 depending on where you go.

I can't remember when they started including the voltage regulator in the alternator, but if you have an external voltage regulator, you might want to check it out. I know that they were external in '71 cause I just replaced mine, cost about $10. Good luck.

I don't know if this will be of any help but I had a similar problem with my 72 Chevelle going through batteries (five total) I had the original alternator replaced for a higher amp and chromed alternator. I had a shop supply it and install it well to make a long story short I would go through a battery every two months and when I took my 72 to a different shop to have the problem looked at it turned out that the alternator was a internally regulated alternator when what I needed was a externally regualted alternator. since it was changed to the correct alternator I have had no problems (or dead batteries) since last October, I don't know if this might be the same problem you have but it's worth a shot.

Brandon

To add to what John said about the test light..

You can make one from a 12V bulb and a hunk of wire. Heck, to do what John said, you could use just a bulb. Take the terminal off the battery, hold the bulb to the negative terminal and touch the cable to the other side of the bulb. Ive always got an extra bulb laying around, and I'm too cheap to buy a test light.

To check the charging system, you will need a volt meter. If you are just getting into working on old cars, you will eventually need one anyways. Probably cheaper than replacing everything and never knowing which part it really was. With the engine running, voltage across the battery terminals should be close to 14V. If you are getting 12 or 13, turn on the headlights and check it again. If it is down around 11 or 10 with the lights on, it's either the regulator or the alternator. With me, it's always been the alternator except for once on a Ford. I don't remember how to check the regulator other than looking at the dash light.

K