Ground Distribution!!!!!!!

[My'97Ram 10+ year member]

I just became a member of this site about a week ago, and i have seen about 50 questions that go a little something like this " I have a bunch of ground wires to connect, and i dont know where to connect them. I have like 4 headset TV's, 2 amps, and not enough spaces to ground, what should I do?"

when connecting one ground, its a great idea to ground to the chassis. but when connecting multiple grounds, the easiest way to go is to buy a ground distribution block where you can have one 4 ga wire going from the block to the neg end of the battery, and the block will have 4 8 ga outputs (depending on which one you buy, some have like 6 or 7 outputs and 2 inputs), and you bring all your ground wires to the block and connect them. just make sure that you do not have your RCA cables or any audio wires near the ground wires and you will have no whining noise. they sell many ground blocks, and alot of them are POWER blocks. make sure that you are buying a GROUND block. I'm not the smartest man alive, and other people may think that theres a better way to go. there probally is, i just havent discovered it. this method will also work great for your multiple power connecting needs, as long as you buy a power distribution block.. good luck

Click to read more...

 

[evo2k3 10+ year member]

Originally posted by My'97Ram I just became a member of this site about a week ago, and i have seen about 50 questions that go a little something like this " I have a bunch of ground wires to connect, and i dont know where to connect them. I have like 4 headset TV's, 2 amps, and not enough spaces to ground, what should I do?"

 

when connecting one ground, its a great idea to ground to the chassis. but when connecting multiple grounds, the easiest way to go is to buy a ground distribution block where you can have one 4 ga wire going from the block to the neg end of the battery, and the block will have 4 8 ga outputs (depending on which one you buy, some have like 6 or 7 outputs and 2 inputs), and you bring all your ground wires to the block and connect them. just make sure that you do not have your RCA cables or any audio wires near the ground wires and you will have no whining noise. they sell many ground blocks, and alot of them are POWER blocks. make sure that you are buying a GROUND block. I'm not the smartest man alive, and other people may think that theres a better way to go. there probally is, i just havent discovered it. this method will also work great for your multiple power connecting needs, as long as you buy a power distribution block.. good luck

distros are nothing new.......

 

[eengrms 10+ year member]

The problem with a distro in your example is it's overkill. If you have a couple TV's, a VCR, a DVD, even a small amp, running a 4AWG to the battery is a waste of time. Even if you downsized the wire it's still a waste of time. You're better off just to ground everything to the chassis. The only problem people have, and I was one of them at one point, is deciding what the better method is- grounding everything together or grounding as close to the unit at as possible at the chassis. We all know grounding everything together is not the best option, so why would using a distro be? All they are used for is for simplification and clean looking installs.

With all of that said- thanks for the advice. I'm sure in some applications a distro is the best option and hopefully you helped some people out.

 

[My'97Ram 10+ year member]

thats why they make distribution blocks that have a 0ga input and 4 ga outputs. some even have 2 0 ga inputs and 4 ga outputs. dont get me wrong, your idea is great, but if over time you have a problem with your ground, you wont have to go and rip out all of your interior. and there is nothing new with distribution blocks, but if youre new to car audio, you dont even know what bridging is let alone a distribution block. when i first started to get into car audio i had no idea what the hell watts were. and get this... i thought pyle was a good product to buy, until the amp caught fire and burnt my '66 charger to a crisp.

but sometimes it is overkill, the way i have my distribution is 2 blocks at each side of the truck

 

[SVTExplorer 10+ year member]

Originally posted by eengrms We all know grounding everything together is not the best option,

Why is this?

Mike

 

[Mark_ab 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by eengrms We all know grounding everything together is not the best option, so why would using a distro be? All they are used for is for simplification and clean looking installs.

 

Incorrect. A single grounding point is always preffered in terms of ground loops due to voltage differentials. They're not just for show.

 

[eengrms 10+ year member]

Originally posted by Mark_ab Incorrect. A single grounding point is always preffered in terms of ground loops due to voltage differentials. They're not just for show.

If it's all grounded to the same chassis- how is it different voltage potentials? So what you're saying is it would be better to run a 20' ground wire from your amp to ground up at the HU instead of just grounding it in the trunk? Or vice versa? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/nono.gif.eca61d170185779e0921b0faa9704973.gif Think before you speak.

 

[more_spl 10+ year member]

Originally posted by eengrms If it's all grounded to the same chassis- how is it different voltage potentials? So what you're saying is it would be better to run a 20' ground wire from your amp to ground up at the HU instead of just grounding it in the trunk? Or vice versa? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/nono.gif.eca61d170185779e0921b0faa9704973.gif Think before you speak.

oh c'mon. be reasonable. he means the stuff in the trunk. don't ground 2 ground wires on both sides of trunk, focus on one area... It's like that cuz you don't ground your HU w/ thicker gauge wire like 8 and thicker, where more current can flow.

 

[eengrms 10+ year member]

Originally posted by more_spl oh c'mon. be reasonable. he means the stuff in the trunk. don't ground 2 ground wires on both sides of trunk, focus on one area... It's like that cuz you don't ground your HU w/ thicker gauge wire like 8 and thicker, where more current can flow.

True. That's basically what I said above, where it didn't make sense to use a distro when the stuff was spread throughout your car, like in my example. You took my statement that you quoted above out of context.

And I like being unreasonable, it's no fun to argue when eveyrone is reasonable...

 

[Mark_ab 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by eengrms If it's all grounded to the same chassis- how is it different voltage potentials? So what you're saying is it would be better to run a 20' ground wire from your amp to ground up at the HU instead of just grounding it in the trunk? Or vice versa? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/nono.gif.eca61d170185779e0921b0faa9704973.gif Think before you speak.

If you think there aren't voltage differentials in the chasis you're ignorant, and judging by your comments above, also presumptuous. Perhaps you should take your own advice to heart.

 

[eengrms 10+ year member]

Originally posted by Mark_ab If you think there aren't voltage differentials in the chasis you're ignorant, and judging by your comments above, also presumptuous. Perhaps you should take your own advice to heart.

You're right. I've learned from the error of my ways. The voltage differentials in a large, fairly solid piece of metal are so great that it's important enough to even mention. How could I have ever been so shortsighted...

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

We live in a world (car audio) where millivolts sometimes matter. Not in power sources, but in signal return paths. The dreaded "ground loop" rears its ugly head more often than installers would like. If the entire body and frame was always at the same zero potential, ground loops wouldn't exist. They do.

Bolts rust. Sheetmetal seams separate. Ground straps break or corrode. Shit happens. If someone wants to use a single ground point for insurance sake, I'd never argue against it.

 

[eengrms 10+ year member]

Originally posted by maylar We live in a world (car audio) where millivolts sometimes matter. Not in power sources, but in signal return paths. The dreaded "ground loop" rears its ugly head more often than installers would like. If the entire body and frame was always at the same zero potential, ground loops wouldn't exist. They do.

 

Bolts rust. Sheetmetal seams separate. Ground straps break or corrode. Shit happens. If someone wants to use a single ground point for insurance sake, I'd never argue against it.

Very true I guess. Maybe I was being a little presumptious.