Alternator failure ?

[Sunny43.5]

Hi all my 2005 T5 petrol 2.o litre van is nowadays just staying home more often , the battery goes flat after a prolonged period of time and I,v had to jump start it a few times . I also stick the battery charger on it as well , my question is does anyone know if there is a fuse that maybe controlling the flow of power from the alternator as I no longer see any voltage with test metre at the battery . I have a battery symbol on in the instrument cluster which normally goes off on start up , I found it strange that the alternator may have just stopped working suddenly so I suspected maybe a fuse had blown . Thanks in advance for any suggestions .

[Rebuild]

do you have another battery under the front seats? Maybe its cactus and pulling the main battery down, although theres usually diodes and things in the lines to prevent this

[Sunny43.5]

No single battery only , like I said it sits for prolonged periods of time so radio memory and other small electronic things could be the drain or the battery is getting old and doesn't hold charge .

[heyasam]

If the battery has gone flat multiple times it's probably cactus. Even though charge is trying to go in could still read little or nothing at the battery terminals i think.

[BrianJ]

If the voltage at the battery terminals rises to about 14V when the engine is running then the alternator is working, and it might be a faulty battery or a high discharge when the car is idle.

[Sunny43.5]

Ok update battery is near new so no issues there , but I tried the old tried and true method of removing the battery terminal with engine running . Normally the alternator will keep the car running but the nano second the terminal was disconnected it died , So I,ve ordered a new one online so fingers crossed that works . I,ll update once its in the van , thanks for the hints so far .

[Sunny43.5]

Ok update , new alternator arrived and fitted works perfectly again . Sadly it will take longer for the cuts and bruises to heal than the time the job actually took to do . Talk about awkward to get to , undoing the mounting bolts and the tensioner were easy but trying to get to the main positive cable bolt was total bitch . I spent ages trying to get it into a position where I could undo that one lousy nut , in the end I was dripping blood all over the place as I seemed to get stuck against every sharp fitting in the engine bay . Seeing the battery light go out after starting was so nice .

[BrianJ]

LOL, keeping with good old water cooled VW design then.

[jjhobart]

I'm also having a problem with my battery holding a charge.
The alternator appears to be pushing out 14.2 volts ok, but no or miniscule amps.
I am wondering if it is the regulator?
Asking that question tomorrow at the Auto Electrician.
Replacing the regulator is every bit as bad as changing the alternator apparently - front off gives the best access.
JJ

[BrianJ]

There would be very little amps if the battery was fully charged.