2008 Mazda5 charging issue

So my 2008 Mazda5 is having a charging issue. Went to the store and wife ran in to grab something. Waited in lot with car running for about 10 minutes.

When I put it in drive, the power steering was going in and out and stereo wouldn’t work.

Turned it off and it wouldn’t t start. Jumped it and it started and made it home less than 2 miles. As I was pulling into the drive way, power steering started to act up again.

So went and got a new battery and everything seems fine till today. Ran a couple errands and then no start again.

Could I have a bad alternator?
 
You can test your alternator with a multimeter. Charge the battery, install it in the car, take a voltage reading. It should be 12.6-ish volts.

Now, crank up the car. The voltage should now be about 14.2 volts. If it's still 12.6V, then your charging system isn't working.
 
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Alternator is your first stop in troubleshooting. If a brand new battery wore itself out and died it means it isn’t being charged well, and the issue isn’t the battery. Depending on the age of the old battery it may have actually been fine, and was just a little less resilient than the brand new one.
 
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