I am not a mechanical guy but I don't mine tinkering around.  I have a
power steering fluid leak through, I believe, my pressure lines.
Until I could get to fix it, I compensated by keeping the fluid
reservoir constantly full.  Now, my electrical devices are "browing
out" and the car even died.  Just in case, I got a new battery
installed.  The installer noticed my fluid cover was damp and asked
why.  I told him that I fill it to the brim.  He said that I should
have been leaving room for expansion when hot, which makes sense but
that he had a car in which the alternator got soaked with steering
fluid because of a bad pump and shorted out the alternator.

Without subjecting myself to things I don't understand, how can I tell
if my alternator is shot, or can I power wash out accumulated fluid
and hope for the best?

If it is the alternator, I can see from other posts that its
replacement is not something for a novice like me.

Thanks