Last month, I had to jump the battery. I've had no problem for about 3 weeks, until 2 days ago. I had to jump it to go to work. After work, she started just fine. The next day, dead again!! I went to jump it and noticed that one of the cables were loose. I tightened it and had to jump it again. Tyhe batteries are Optima red tops and are not even a year old yet. The only thing I have that draws continuous current is a rechargeable Maglite, which I have taken off of the charger for 2 weeks now. If it was the alternator, would it be acting this way or just be dead, as it should be. It is driving me nuts because I can't figure out what or where the cause is? Any clues??

 

Can't tell from your post, but did you fully charge the batteries after the jump start? Just driving around is usually NOT enough to recharge a drained battery, much less two, unless you go on a really long road trip. The loose cable MAY have kept the one battery from getting a good charge from the alternator and thus putting most of the starting load on the other one. I would suggest getting both batteries checked and then fully charged and then install and tighten the cables and see what happens then.