The battery died an the alternators gone nuts??

Evening all! pretty sure my alternators buggered but wondering what you guys think as its not a fault i've come accross before. Tried to start car this morning and it turned over really slow before battery died completely so i put charger on it left it 2 hour and battery then showed a measley 0.7 volt so fitted a new battery and car started fine dropped meter on and getting a healthy 14.6 volt, turned on lights and blowers and voltage dropped below 12v a quick blip on throttle bought voltage back to 14.5 volt with lights and blowers on. However when i turned car off and on again i noticed that i dont have a battery light when ignition is on. so i disconnected wire from alternator and tried it straight to earth and battery light illuminated, so i need to figure out if alternator is totally shot or if it just needs a new regulator. don't know how long battery light hasn't been working but rev counter been acting daft for last couple of weeeks. any help appreciated or a cheap alternator if anyone has a spare kicking around and is local to me or willing to post.

How freely does the alt pulley spin??

juiceyv8 said:

How freely does the alt pulley spin??

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didn't think of checking if it spins free but to add more mystery i've owned car about a year, when i bought it i was told alternator was new and it certainly looks it! even now.

what really puzzles me is the lack of battery light?