71_Bronco 1,072 #1 Posted December 30, 2020 Was just thinking this morning. People sometimes have electrical issues due to bad connections, and rusted steel (myself included). Rather than running the "ground" wire to the frame, or to the block, or to something metal on the tractor (and hope it has a good connection), why not run it back to the battery terminal? I know it would make for more wiring, but it would help eliminate the issue of a bad ground, right? Just curious if there is anybody who has done this. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,695 #2 Posted December 30, 2020 I've absolutely done it and will continue to do it. I run grounds from the battery to the frame, engine, all individual components, whatever is supposed to have a ground gets one.... 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 55,329 #3 Posted December 30, 2020 Best bet is to run the ground wire (#6 or larger) directly from the battery "-" terminal to the starter/SG mounting bolt on the engine block. 2 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 62,922 #4 Posted December 30, 2020 “Too many ground wires!” Said nobody ever... if you’ve got the time and material, run it 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeek 2,286 #5 Posted December 30, 2020 (edited) You could also use a terminal block if you wanted to run individual ground wires. That way it's neat and you don't have a bunch of wires connected to your battery - terminal. One ground from battery to terminal block and everything gets grounded there. Edited December 31, 2020 by Zeek 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmaynard 15,519 #6 Posted December 30, 2020 (edited) This is why if you have ever looked at a wiring harness on a car, there is usually a direct to the battery ground wire in the harness from every terminal. Edited December 30, 2020 by rmaynard 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maxwell-8 4,277 #7 Posted December 30, 2020 (edited) I have a central location where of everything gets + or - but its away from the battery. Fuse-sing everything and hooking up switches is easier and the fuses are all central Edited December 30, 2020 by Maxwell-8 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 62,922 #8 Posted December 30, 2020 4 minutes ago, rmaynard said: This is why if you have ever looked at a wiring harness on a car, there is usually a direct to the battery ground wire in the harness from every terminal. Speaking of automotive, things don’t work well in a Duramax when you forget to hook up the TWO engine ground wires... right @PeacemakerJack? dash lights worked, starter didn’t! that’s what you get when two or more are having more fun than you could imagine working in a shop at @pullstart stables! Hi @Coulter Caleb, I’m talking to you too 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,834 #9 Posted December 30, 2020 With all the plastic on cars these days it's hard to find a good ground. I've noticed on some they have ground points littered all over. Be fun tracing them out when having problems! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adsm08 2,089 #10 Posted December 30, 2020 24 minutes ago, WHX24 said: With all the plastic on cars these days it's hard to find a good ground. I've noticed on some they have ground points littered all over. Be fun tracing them out when having problems! Tell me about it. A few months ago we had a van towed in. Guy said he went around a corner, engine shut off, all the lights came on, wouldn't restart. I found no ground at the fuel pump controller, ran a temporary to drive it in the shop, and built a more permanent replacement, seemed good, shipped it. Next day same thing happened. Here what happened was that my replacement ground did not cover the actual failure, which was a ground strap between the body and frame that was hidden on the vehicle, and didn't show in any of the diagrams. The battery's main connection is to the body, but most of the chassis grounds go to the frame, so lots of stuff wasn't grounding properly. 2 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHX?? 48,834 #11 Posted December 30, 2020 8 minutes ago, adsm08 said: didn't show in any of the diagrams. Yep gotta love that! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Kennell 38,251 #12 Posted December 30, 2020 2 hours ago, Zeek said: You could also use a terminal block if you wanted to run individual ground wires. That way it's neat and you don't have a bunch of wire connected to your battery - terminal. One ground from battery to terminal block and everything get grounded there. Yep, terminal blocks on positive and negative. Makes it easy to add aux lights, bells and whistles to the snow machines. 5 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
R Scheer 502 #13 Posted December 30, 2020 I'd go with a buss bar myself for the ground. For the positive I like the marine switch panels, a bit pricy but gives you fuse holders/ switches/ and is hopefully water tolerant. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squonk 41,164 #14 Posted December 30, 2020 7 hours ago, pullstart said: Speaking of automotive, things don’t work well in a Duramax when you forget to hook up the TWO engine ground wires... right @PeacemakerJack? dash lights worked, starter didn’t! that’s what you get when two or more are having more fun than you could imagine working in a shop at @pullstart stables! Hi @Coulter Caleb, I’m talking to you too Tried that on my friends 80 GMC. Forgot to hook up the main ground. Turned the key to start. Well the starter was grounded to the engine, the engine grounded through the bolt on the motor mount to the chassis, and the chassis grounded to the RF fender, and the RF fender to the battery by virtue of the 10 ga. auxilary ground. cable. That 10 ga. wire did not take kindly to about 250 amps trying to make their way back to the battery. It got crowded in there, they started fighting and let the smoke out! 1 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,695 #15 Posted December 30, 2020 8 minutes ago, squonk said: Tried that on my friends 80 GMC. Forgot to hook up the main ground. Turned the key to start. Well the starter was grounded to the engine, the engine grounded through the bolt on the motor mount to the chassis, and the chassis grounded to the RF fender, and the RF fender to the battery by virtue of the 10 ga. auxilary ground. cable. That 10 ga. wire did not take kindly to about 250 amps trying to make their way back to the battery. It got crowded in there, they started fighting and let the smoke out! Yeah well you know.... I tried doing that too but on a much smaller scale. I put starting amps through the tiny little ground wire of a voltmeter on one of these tractors 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adsm08 2,089 #16 Posted December 30, 2020 10 minutes ago, squonk said: Tried that on my friends 80 GMC. Forgot to hook up the main ground. Turned the key to start. Well the starter was grounded to the engine, the engine grounded through the bolt on the motor mount to the chassis, and the chassis grounded to the RF fender, and the RF fender to the battery by virtue of the 10 ga. auxilary ground. cable. That 10 ga. wire did not take kindly to about 250 amps trying to make their way back to the battery. It got crowded in there, they started fighting and let the smoke out! We had a Super Dooty come in with all the lights on on the dash, it would still start, but all the warning lights were on, no gauges, and couldn't communicate to any of the computers. Guys said it happened while plowing. Took about six hours of attempted diagnostics to drain it down to the point of needing a jump pack to keep it turned on. At which point all the problems went away. Guy hit a snow bank with the plow, must have broken a plate in the one battery, because the tester showed it shorted internally. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 62,922 #17 Posted December 31, 2020 5 hours ago, adsm08 said: We had a Super Dooty come in with all the lights on on the dash, it would still start, but all the warning lights were on, no gauges, and couldn't communicate to any of the computers. Guys said it happened while plowing. Took about six hours of attempted diagnostics to drain it down to the point of needing a jump pack to keep it turned on. At which point all the problems went away. Guy hit a snow bank with the plow, must have broken a plate in the one battery, because the tester showed it shorted internally. I laugh, because I’ve had some pretty big impacts plowing, that have caused big damage to the plow, to the truck, to my back, but never a battery plate! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfrederi 17,741 #18 Posted December 31, 2020 (edited) 12 minutes ago, pullstart said: I laugh, because I’ve had some pretty big impacts plowing, that have caused big damage to the plow, to the truck, to my back, but never a battery plate! Reason why I would never buy a used plow truck... Edited December 31, 2020 by pfrederi 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adsm08 2,089 #19 Posted December 31, 2020 11 hours ago, pullstart said: I laugh, because I’ve had some pretty big impacts plowing, that have caused big damage to the plow, to the truck, to my back, but never a battery plate! Yeah, it was pretty unexpected. They were six year old Walmart batteries though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 12,246 #20 Posted December 31, 2020 17 hours ago, squonk said: It got crowded in there, they started fighting and let the smoke out! LOL One of my early sound system mentors would say "ya got yer ohms all jammed up!" 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RandyLittrell 3,884 #21 Posted January 2, 2021 On 12/30/2020 at 8:44 AM, WHX24 said: With all the plastic on cars these days it's hard to find a good ground. I've noticed on some they have ground points littered all over. Be fun tracing them out when having problems! On some newer Toyota cars, they have a ground cable hooked to a bolt on the fender. If you remove the fender and don't hook the ground back up, you will burn out a $2000 wiring harness if you start the car!! Randy 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maxwell-8 4,277 #22 Posted January 2, 2021 26 minutes ago, RandyLittrell said: On some newer Toyota cars, they have a ground cable hooked to a bolt on the fender. If you remove the fender and don't hook the ground back up, you will burn out a $2000 wiring harness if you start the car!! Randy That there technic to stop peoples from working on there own car such a shame, also the raisin in drive older cars Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
