Printable Version | Subscribe | Add to Favourites
New Topic New Poll New Reply
Author: Subject: Earthing in car wiring, have I understood?
jps

posted on 22/2/18 at 09:52 AM Reply With Quote
Earthing in car wiring, have I understood?

I will be moving onto wiring before too long, and have basically not wired anything since my Hornby 12v train set 20 years ago.

I have seen lots of mention of 'earth' in posts about switching arrangements.

Am I right in thinking that 'earth' points in kit car wiring are really about routing the current across to the chassis.

And that the -ve terminal on the car battery is just connected across to the chassis.

So the 'earth' connections are ways of completing the circuit?

View User's Profile Visit User's Homepage View All Posts By User U2U Member
cliftyhanger

posted on 22/2/18 at 10:11 AM Reply With Quote
Yes, in short.

Just look under the bonnet of a tintop (assuming you can see the battery!) there is a whopping big earth/neg lead attached to the body. You just attach to chassis instead. Just make sure the cable is big enough, and the connections are all good with paint/powdercoat cleaned off. Poor earth is a real curse.

View User's Profile View All Posts By User U2U Member
JMW

posted on 22/2/18 at 11:19 AM Reply With Quote
Ensure the engine has a good short connection to the battery negative as well, lack of a good connection causes problems starting for example.
View User's Profile View All Posts By User U2U Member
CTLeeds

posted on 22/2/18 at 11:51 AM Reply With Quote
Definitely have at least one if not two separate earth straps between the engine block and the chassis. Make sure these connections are via an unpainted part of the chassis to avoid any insulation. Dressing these terminations can always be done after testing the engine runs well. A cheapo multimeter will prove you have good earth between the block and any exposed part of the chassis.

Regards

Chris

View User's Profile View All Posts By User U2U Member
jps

posted on 22/2/18 at 02:42 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by CTLeeds
Definitely have at least one if not two separate earth straps between the engine block and the chassis.


Is this because some components are 'earthed' onto the block? For example the alternator or starter motor perhaps?

View User's Profile Visit User's Homepage View All Posts By User U2U Member
CTLeeds

posted on 22/2/18 at 03:23 PM Reply With Quote
Exactly that!

Chris

View User's Profile View All Posts By User U2U Member
gremlin1234

posted on 22/2/18 at 05:48 PM Reply With Quote
if you are using an ecu, many (most) sensors usually have an explicit 0V wire to the ecu
View User's Profile View All Posts By User U2U Member

New Topic New Poll New Reply


go to top






Website design and SEO by Studio Montage

All content © 2001-16 LocostBuilders. Reproduction prohibited
Opinions expressed in public posts are those of the author and do not necessarily represent
the views of other users or any member of the LocostBuilders team.
Running XMB 1.8 Partagium [© 2002 XMB Group] on Apache under CentOS Linux
Founded, built and operated by ChrisW.