Grounding questions

[XHiFiX 10+ year member]

Is it ok to use a larger ground wire than the power wire when connecting an amp (i.e. 4ga ground + 8 ga power)?

Is it good to ground straight to the battery?

And I'm still unclear about this because of conflicting information, but is it better or worse to have a single, shared ground point for all components?

Thanks

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[wolfman1966 10+ year member]

it won't hut to use larger wire, better to go larger than smaller.

though some people say the ground wire isn't supposed to be long, Grounding straight to the battery is actually the BEST ground.

and the last one is just my opinion, but I would think seperate grounds would be better.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Is it ok to use a larger ground wire than the power wire when connecting an amp (i.e. 4ga ground + 8 ga power)?

Yes. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Is it good to ground straight to the battery?

I never do. I would much prefer to use a solid connection directly to frame but as far as I know there's no good reason not to outside of necessitating longer runs for the ground cable...

And I'm still unclear about this because of conflicting information, but is it better or worse to have a single, shared ground point for all components?
Thanks

Multiple grounding locations can create ground loops and introduce noise into the setup but wiring your gear in that fashion isn't a guarantee that it will occur.

Generally, though, it's simply easier to use a common ground for multiple components.

My main ground in the trunk is welded to the spare tire mounting bracket underneath the trunk floor and that cable feeds a distro block.

All my gear is connected to that distro and I have no unwanted noise in my tunes. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/thumbsup.gif.3287b36ca96645a13a43aff531f37f02.gif

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

agreed ^^

 

[The Ste 10+ year member]

I have one amp at the moment, but am getting another. The ground wires wont reach the same point. If I were to ground them at separate points nearly a metre away, would adding say a piece of 8awg between the two grounding points eliminate any potential for ground loops as they would be at the same potential?

 

[BIGsherm7272]

Is it ok to use a larger ground wire than the power wire when connecting an amp (i.e. 4ga ground + 8 ga power)?
Is it good to ground straight to the battery?

And I'm still unclear about this because of conflicting information, but is it better or worse to have a single, shared ground point for all components?

Thanks

Gatecrashers classics ftw

I am posting in regard to your ava lol

 

[mil81 10+ year member]

Is it ok to use a larger ground wire than the power wire when connecting an amp (i.e. 4ga ground + 8 ga power)?
Is it good to ground straight to the battery?

And I'm still unclear about this because of conflicting information, but is it better or worse to have a single, shared ground point for all components?

Thanks

As stated above, the bigger and shorter the ground the better.

I don't think it would be good to go straight to the battery. I bet if you did that you would notice a lot of noise on your system, since the ground wire would be acting as an antena.

I can't imagine it would be bad to have two different grounding points, but I don't know much about ground loops, so you will have to trust the other guys on that one. If you are worried about it, you can buy a distribution block and run both amps off the one grounding point. That way you can run your 4ga to the distro and run your 8ga from the distro to the amps.