OK, folks, you make this sound so easy, so I decided to see if I could set up a very small basic lighting rig for a couple of bulbs. I got a 33 amp hour marine deep cycle battery (well, at least that's what I ordered, but it doesn't say anything on the battery itself about deep cycle). I figured if this works out OK, I could scale up as needed. I just need to start with something less than 35 lbs. I got a 300 W inverter and a six amp charger. Charged the battery no problem, and then hooked up the inverter, and tested a lamp. No problem. I turned off the inverter, unplugged the lamp, but left the inverter and battery connected. A few seconds later, I heard crackling, and saw a wisp of smoke from the negative terminal of the battery. I quickly disconnected the inverter, but now I'm freaked out. The cables got hot, and now I'm totally freaked out. The clamps didn't touch or anything, so I'm wondering if there's a certain order you're supposed to do things with the battery and the inverter. Also, the cables that I have connecting to the battery have some pretty wide holes on one end and smaller on the other, so they were not all that tight when I was testing it because the terminals are much smaller on both the battery and the inverter than the cable's larger end. How many things did I get wrong? Remember you're dealing with a person who's never even hooked up a car battery or jumper cables before, so please dumb it down for me. Thanks!
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I'm assuming that your light worked for a little while before you turned it off. Your battery connections should be very snug or they will heat up. Reconnect the inverter, tighten up the post connections, and try it again. The inverter does have a fuse so it will protect against anything truly catastrophic like smoke and fire. Chances are all you did was get some arcing on a loose connection. If the battery is a true deep cycle/marine battery it will have a large lead terminal AND a threaded screw post next to each large post. Use the appropriate size wire connector with the battery and the inverter. If you aren't sure take some photos with your cell phone of the wires and battery, and post them on this thread.
I have been doing what you have done for years and no, there is no certain order between the battery and inverter other then the red cable on the inverter goes to the positive on the battery and the black cable goes to the negative. It sound like you did not have the ends of the cable tight to the battery or inverter and you had some sparking. They must be tight or I use the clamps that come with the inverter and clip them directly to the battery posts. I have not had an issue using the clamps.
Also the battery terminals have a washer, and a split ring. Does one go on each side? Does it matter which one goes on which side of the battery cable?
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I would just buy a power pack, they run $50-$200 and run stuff for hours.
I'm assuming that your light worked for a little while before you turned it off. Your battery connections should be very snug or they will heat up. Reconnect the inverter, tighten up the post connections, and try it again. The inverter does have a fuse so it will protect against anything truly catastrophic like smoke and fire. Chances are all you did was get some arcing on a loose connection. If the battery is a true deep cycle/marine battery it will have a large lead terminal AND a threaded screw post next to each large post. Use the appropriate size wire connector with the battery and the inverter. If you aren't sure take some photos with your cell phone of the wires and battery, and post them on this thread.
I have been doing what you have done for years and no, there is no certain order between the battery and inverter other then the red cable on the inverter goes to the positive on the battery and the black cable goes to the negative. It sound like you did not have the ends of the cable tight to the battery or inverter and you had some sparking. They must be tight or I use the clamps that come with the inverter and clip them directly to the battery posts. I have not had an issue using the clamps.