Battery drain

[Curt]

14 hours ago, Daveh said:

Curt out of curiosity.  What amp size are your batteries and what watt was the bulb?

 

 

Can't answer either question but I will find out. But the bulb was pulling approx 1.3 A. I checked it with a multimeter. With that switch off and the battery switch off I am pull 0.00 Amps.

[Kirk W]

22 hours ago, Smitty77_7 said:

And I do not believe Kirk will have any concern about me tagging onto his post. He knows, we all know - he knows his stuff:)! 

None at all. I don't have much inverter experience either so will take a look at what you bring up. There are two major advantages of lifting negative from a battery first, under most situations. The first is safety since disconnecting the positive first will give fireworks if you happen to hit the tool being used against some type of ground as it provides a direct short across the battery. The other is that when something extra is added to the circuits like an isolation device, all of those are typically on the positive and there is usually only one negative connection to chassis ground. 

My question is, would the issue go away if the inverter is switched off before you address the battery connections?

15 hours ago, Curt said:

It turns out it was the light inside the generator compartment!! Who would think one light could pull so much amperage?

A high wattage bulb does draw a significant load. Keep in mind that watts = amps X volts. Thus a 20-watt lamp that is supplied by 12V power will require 1.6a of current.