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Ground to chassis
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 7:22 am
by Gemaskerde Tuinvurk
Is there any specific reason this should not be done?
Measured my cable out at the rear of the car: pos to neg, gives about the same voltage as pos to chassis.
In theory could you not just fit a thick pos cable to the back and then ground to chassis?
Re: Ground to chassis
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 7:42 am
by 4ePikanini
yes it should be fine but most run both cables to the back paired with a dual battery system - that way you can have the secondary battery completely separate from the main battery for fridges etc. - so it doesn't interfere or drain your main battery.
Re: Ground to chassis
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 7:51 am
by LowRange
Gemaskerde Tuinvurk wrote:Is there any specific reason this should not be done?
Measured my cable out at the rear of the car: pos to neg, gives about the same voltage as pos to chassis.
In theory could you not just fit a thick pos cable to the back and then ground to chassis?
Remember that you are measuring the open circuit voltage!
The moment that you start pulling major amps to recharge a battery, the resistance of the return path to the alternator negative via the chassis and various other bits and pieces will result in a voltage drop - which is what you are trying to avoid in the first place.
Pull proper cables for both positive and negative.
Johan