problem with teh battery???

[SwAY]

ok, my truck died last week so my buddy gave me his battery to use for a while. Everything was working fine untill yesterday (happened today as well). I noticed an odd smell coming from the truck, it could be smelt from inside and especially when standing near the front tire on the passenger side. It appears that the smell is coming from the battery, and today I noticed a bit of smoke coming from it. This does not seem normal (obviously) so any ideas what the problem could be??? As you can tell I dont know too much about mechanics (another obvious statement) so please help if you can:D
:help :help :help

[Rogue Bronco]

Put a volt meter on the battery(should read 12ish volts), start the truck(should be 14ish volts). If it reads less the alternator is not charging for some reason(wouldn't cause smoke), if it reads more the battery is getting overcharged, and the voltage regulator would most likely be needing some attention(overcharging could cause smoke).
BTW- did ya check the fluid levels in the battery cells??

[Toynut]

I would have to agree with rouge bronco , i am thinking the voltage regulator is ****ed and is melting your friends battery :redneck ! is this on your s10 ?

[SwAY]

yeah, im not driving her right now, im in an explorer, it has been mentioned that its the alternator thats messed up. So ill be driving the explorer for a few more days. Ill post what was wrong when i find out, i bet you guys are right

[SwAY]

yeah it was the alternator, had a new one plus a new battery yesterday, shes running great so far, so hopefully that was the only thing wrong