[Shotimes] Battery/Alternator testing questions!

[Steve Tatro]

Help.

This has happened for a couple of days now.  My car is sluggish to start when
it's been sitting for a long period of time, seems like the classic weak
battery syndrome.

When I got home I got the voltmeter out and it registered 13.96VDC when
running.  It's been off for about an hour and now the battery indicates (with
the car OFF) 12.75VDC.

My question is, how do I determine if I've got a bad alt, or batt, or what?
If my battery is dying a slow death would it keep losing it's charge, so that
if I check it in a few hours it would be even lower?

Oh, and can someone recommend a good replacement battery if in fact that's
what I need?

Thanks for any help.

Steve Tatro
Red/Black '93 with 171k miles
Cincinnati, Ohio