Alternator going bad? Options

[gabyz]

notice this when I drive at night with healights on..

whenever I brake which causes the taillights to go off, use the A/C fan, even the turn signals, my headlights dim very noticably. It's like anything electrical that is turned on drains a large amount of power from everything else. Is this normal? I've had a Corolla before and never had that happen before. Thanks

[goferris]

i think i may be having a similar problem. the battery in mine is new but i think the alternator might be going out. i don't think it is charging my battery up to a decent level. here's the thing. this is my second celica and i got used to being able to just leaving the lights on and they would turn themselves off after about 15 sec of getting out of the car. so i keep leaving my lights on and after 20 min the battery is allready dead. the switch that tells wheter or not the drivers side door is open or closed apparently is stuck and i need to get that replaced as well. it is really frustrating