E30 Zone

I've just changed my alternater .Battery was dead . got a jump start drove down the road about ten mins .still dead batt. after a quick drive should the battery be ok . not sure if i need a new one or not . thanks for any help

have you got a multimeter? if you have get the car running and put the metter on the battery and see what the voltage is. it should be around 13.5 if im correct for a healthy alternater also try charging the battery up and see if it takes a charge.

If the battery is/was "dead", then you need to charge it 1st(as in several hours of charging)from the mains ,using a battery charger,before refitting it in the car.
10 mins idling will have little or no effect on a flat batteryTBH

alternators dont put out much voltage at idle so you need to drive it properly to get charge, if the battery went dead and the voltage got very low then you will have damaged a cell and it wont ever hold full charge again(unless its a deep cycle battery)

how do i check an alternater is working before fitting it, as for the battery it showing 10v on my meter but it wont turn the engine

You can remove the regulator/brush pack off of an alternator (two small screws on the rear), and check the condition of the brushes, which is the most common problem.
A battery with a no load voltage of 10 isn't going to start your car!

if i turn the wheel on the alternater with a drill would it show a volt output