Chevrolet Repair: Chevy K3500 charge system light comes on, Batt now dead, bench test, engine rev

Question
I have a 94 chevy K3500, last night the charge system light came on when engine rev'd up to driving speeds, extingished when I stopped, the gauge read good and battery had plenty of plenty of power to start. Today I went to start it and the batt is now completely dead, so dead it would not jump intially. After charging a few minutes it was able to be jumped. Now the charge system light does not come on at all, not even with turning the ignition key to RUN prior to starting. The alternator is charging. Also the alternator was real hot after the battery got recharged. Do you have any ideas what the problem may be? I am taking the alternator to get bench tested but even if it is bad could there be something taking out my alternator?

Answer
HI DEB, YOU SAY THE ALT IS CHARGING,WHY ARE YOU GETTING IT BENCH TESTED ??? DID YOU CK THE CHARGING SYSTEM WITH A VOLT METER OR ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE DASH GAUGE ? AND IF SO WAS IT CHARGING AT 13.5 VOLTS TO 14.5 VOLTS ??? IF YOU DID CK THIS WAY AND THE ALT WAS PUTTING OUT THIS VOLTAGE THEN THE ALT IS FOR SURE OK..BY THE BATT LIGHT COMING ON AND THEN OFF THERE COULD BE A PROBLEM WITH THE VOLT REG INSIDE THE ALT,CAUSING THE LIGHT ON THE DASH TO LIGHT UP AND TURN OFF. THE FACT THAT THE ALT LIGHT DOES NOT TURN ON THE DASH WHEN THE KEY IS ON THERE SOUNDS LIKE A INTERNAL PROBLEM. THIS IS WHY I AM WONDERING HOW YOU CHECKED THE ALT OUTPUT. DONT CK BY THE DASH GAUGE...AS FAR AS SOMETHING TAKING THE ALT OUT,THE ONLY THING I COULD THINK OF IS A DIRECT SHORT OR JUMPING THE BAT BACKWARDS,BUT YOU WOULD KNOW THIS RIGHT AWAY. AS FOR THE ALT GETTING REAL HOT THIS MAYBE NORMAL IF LIKE YOU SAY, THE BATTERY WAS ONLY CHARGED FOR A SHORT TIME..ALTERNATORS WILL GET HOT WHEN THEY ARE PUTTING OUT A HUGE AMOUNT OF AMPS. I WOULD NOT WORRY ABOUT THIS..SO I WOULD SAY,SEE WHAT THE BENCH TEST SHOWS,IF THE ALT IS OK AND CHARGING CORRECT THE NEXT STEP IS TO SEE IF THERE IS A SHORT IN THE SYSTEM,LIKE SOMETHING STAYING ON WHEN THE KEY IS OFF. GET BACK TO ME AFTER THE ALT IS CHECKED OUT IF THAT WAS NOT THE PROBLEMM...I BET IT IS..IF YOU ARE DONE WITH ME PLEASE RATE THIS ANSWER WHEN LEAVING THE SITE..THANK YOU,,, TOM..