Potential Grounding points

[goose69]

I just ran 00 wire from my battery (positive) to my distribution block for my three amps. From my distrubution block I have 4 guage running to each amp. My question is on the ground side were is the (best) closest point to run my 00 (negative) to. Again i have ran 4 guage (Negative) from my distribution block to my amps. The reason i am asking is i only have 10' of 00left and hoping there is a good ground close??? If not i am in for another $50 worth of wire. I removed all the old 12 guage. I am surprized the amps could even run off 12 guage.

[ajholt7]

Probably gonna have to order more wire and go to the battery.

[chpthril]

Your amps need to share the same battery, thus, the amp's positive and negative need to go directly to the battery. Also, there is not a ground buss capable of handling the load of 3 amps.

[goose69]

So how do i do it?

[chpthril]

So how do i do it?

What ever battery you connected the amp's POS (+) to, you need to connect their NEG (-) to. Unlike a car, there is no chassis to ground to, and the only only ground buss may be under the helm, but it is probably only feed with 8Ga wire so it will not handle the load. So, unfortunately, you will need to purchase more wire. For a 22ft'r, I have found it usually takes about 22ft to run from the battery to the storage area.

[goose69]

Thanks mike. Off to buy 22ft of 00.

[Domsz06]

yeah I remember dealing with this. I had 2 dist. blocks, nothing like buying 4 rolls of 00 gauge wire

[Jason B]

yup, sucks.
I have about $400 worth of 0g. wire cause I had to split up my batteries for good wieght distribution. pita

[talltigeguy]

What ever battery you connected the amp's POS (+) to, you need to connect their NEG (-) to. Unlike a car, there is no chassis to ground to, and the only only ground buss may be under the helm, but it is probably only feed with 8Ga wire so it will not handle the load. So, unfortunately, you will need to purchase more wire. For a 22ft'r, I have found it usually takes about 22ft to run from the battery to the storage area.

CHP,

He should then make sure that the battery is grounded with large enough cable to the engine, right? For example, if he has 4 guage wire from the battery to the block, would it be enough?

[chpthril]

CHP,

He should then make sure that the battery is grounded with large enough cable to the engine, right? For example, if he has 4 guage wire from the battery to the block, would it be enough?

Very good point. I'm not sure if Goose is adding a second battery or just connecting to the original battery(s).

The factory ground cable is more then likely 2/0. If it has the dual battery setup, then the ground for the ACC battery may just be wired right to the starting battery. In any case, the size (ga) of the ground is just as important as the positive and needs to be based on load x length.

And like Dom discovered, batteries dont charge with out a ground to complete the loop

[Domsz06]

Very good point. I'm not sure if Goose is adding a second battery or just connecting to the original battery(s).

The factory ground cable is more then likely 2/0. If it has the dual battery setup, then the ground for the ACC battery may just be wired right to the starting battery. In any case, the size (ga) of the ground is just as important as the positive and needs to be based on load x length.

And like Dom discovered, batteries dont charge with out a ground to complete the loop

gee thanks chpthril!!!!!!!!!!

[Domsz06]

Very good point. I'm not sure if Goose is adding a second battery or just connecting to the original battery(s).

The factory ground cable is more then likely 2/0. If it has the dual battery setup, then the ground for the ACC battery may just be wired right to the starting battery. In any case, the size (ga) of the ground is just as important as the positive and needs to be based on load x length.

And like Dom discovered, batteries dont charge with out a ground to complete the loop

I had to add an extra set of negative to the engine. 00 wasn't big enough for the amps I was running