I am having some issues with my electrical system. I am going through it this weekend and cleaning/tightening my existing ground connections but I would like to add a few more. Where are the best locations for these?
Extra Ground Leads
- Thread starter stykthyn
- Start date
-
Sponsors (?)
What size are you currently running? The grounding on a DC system can never be overkill. I like to add an extra #4 on the battery at a minimum. ground the block with the same to the battery. ground the block to the body with the same. I also ground the tranny ( if its electronically controlled). Go through and hit all your electrical connections to the body with a wire brush and tighten all your connections well, a loose connection will cause alot of strange issues and headache.. some people will paint over the connection to prevent rust, some use a dielectric grease.... i like paint.
I can't remember who originally came up with the idea but someone on this forum put together a DC bus on the firewall. I didn't do the whole bus but I did get a bus block to run my extra grounds.
From the bus block on the FW, I went the battery, engine block, and alternator bracket. The bus block is directly attached to the firewall, providing my chasis ground.
I'd considered running another wire to the sub-frame connector but never did.
From the bus block on the FW, I went the battery, engine block, and alternator bracket. The bus block is directly attached to the firewall, providing my chasis ground.
I'd considered running another wire to the sub-frame connector but never did.
Shakerhood
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
ONE good ground is better than multiple grounds. The reason for this is to avoid creating ground loops. A ground look occurs when an electrical current has two paths to ground and both have different resistances. This can cause some pretty interesting electrical issues.
Last thing you want to do is go around adding random ground points. Instead stick with the idea of electricity flowing in 1 big loop from the battery, to the engine block to the chassis, to the battery in one big loop. Look into cleaning up and upgrading the wiring size of the existing grounds instead.
While this page pertains mostly to car audio, it does point out that there are things to consider when attaching new ground leads
http://www.k0bg.com/loops.html
Last thing you want to do is go around adding random ground points. Instead stick with the idea of electricity flowing in 1 big loop from the battery, to the engine block to the chassis, to the battery in one big loop. Look into cleaning up and upgrading the wiring size of the existing grounds instead.
While this page pertains mostly to car audio, it does point out that there are things to consider when attaching new ground leads
http://www.k0bg.com/loops.html
Ground loops are created by grounding say.... battery to chasis then chasis to block then block to frame, etc. The point of using a bus (similar to what I mentioned above) is to avoid that very thing. The common ground becomes the bus (not the battery) and is installed parallel to chasis, motor, and battery, alt, so that loops are not created.
Aside from the bus, many audio shops carry some pretty large negative battery terminals that are used to do pretty much the same thing. The limitation that I see with those, is that you're often limited on the gauge of wire you can use.
Aside from the bus, many audio shops carry some pretty large negative battery terminals that are used to do pretty much the same thing. The limitation that I see with those, is that you're often limited on the gauge of wire you can use.
I agree.
Reason I pointed out ground loops is because grounding kits like these have becoming very popular in the import world where it seems just tossing ground wires everywhere is ok
Reason I pointed out ground loops is because grounding kits like these have becoming very popular in the import world where it seems just tossing ground wires everywhere is ok
I can see them scratching their little pointy heads right now, while trying to figure out why their 21 million mega watt speaker system has a whine in it that gets higher and louder all the way to 30,000 rpm.
LOL. i used to fix that very issue all the time when i installed stereos. Now i have bad hearing in one ear.... but no alt whine. The bus bar is a good idea, it keeps you from having to try and cram a bunch of lugs under one common bolt. Im surprised i didnt think of that.. Now ill grab one from work in the morning.
Similar threads
