wiring 2 battery's opinions on grounding

[shawn k]

I am not sure how anyone on here can argue that a new, fresh run of high current wire will no do better then the frame especially when you consider unibody contruction.

Again. It's about "quantity" vs "quality". There is just so much metal to allow high high current flow, you would need multiple ought guage runs to equal the same current capabitly of a whole unibody.

[oldschoolfan]

I am not sure how anyone on here can argue that a new, fresh run of high current wire will no do better then the frame especially when you consider unibody contruction.

I will bring up the other reason that I am sure you will agree with, maybe. Safety. If you run that ground that distance you increase the risk of it being compromised over that length. If it is severed or partially severed whatever device that is drawing current through that cable is going to search for a ground and find it. Be it through the amplifier itself or the signal wires going to it.

I had the case on my starter crack while I was trying to start my car once. That thing arced like you would not believe! The positive cable got so hot the insulation was like pudding. Oh yeah, my battery started smoking too.

[ttocs]

while there is alot of metal there, how many points front to back are connected? I helped put a large system in an turck of some type(can't remember now) and we did a big 3 upgrade and then slapped the new batt to the chassis and found it didn't work. In the end we found that the bed was isolated from the frame with isolators and the bolts that held it in place didn't really transfer much power.

I am not afraid of severing a 0 awg wire with out knowing it some how, I am also not afraid of shooting a screw threw it and grounding it out. If the ground was disconnected from that batt and it ran out of voltage and could not charge I would expect the amp to reduce power output just like any amp does as input voltage drops.

to each his own, if I were serious about voltage I would run a ground...

[oldschoolfan]

Yes a truck bed is another story. They are mounted with rubber mounts. In that case I would ground the bed to the frame.

[ttocs]

ah that was the funny part, we did and still didn't find it worked...... The frame and the unibody were that well sperated, we ended up doing a big 4 upgrade and had to run another ground from the chassis to the frame, and had to ground the amps to the frame in the back. We would have saved 3 of us a coupl of hours each troubleshooting all of this which means we would have saved money running the 0 awg to the back in the first place.

[The Golden One]

you know what not every unibody car it built the same so really it all comes down to each car. because there are different technics that different car manufactures use to join their cars together.

[ttocs]

that is my point why it would be better to run a dependable ground that you can ensure has good connections and good power transfer. Some cars are going to be better then others but that also means some are worse.

[Stryker]

ok well thx for the opinions seems this is exactly as i thought it would be lotta differing thoughts most good some better.
I just checked resting voltage on the yellow top under my hood resting at 12.7v. brand new Deka intimidator resting at 12.9v both are AGM so i do beleive if the optima steals some voltage it's minimal at best. same style just diff brands. I do not have major voltage drops even at volume since i tossed out the 35 farad cap i had. what a waste of money caps are..... but thats another thread. today while i was testing and listening to the new subs I only had .3-.5 voltage drop at idle this is with my stock alt as i haven't had the new one installed yet.(stock is 130), with old cap and half the wattage it was way more. i think the optima battery is still nice and strong.
I mean i can go get another of the intimadators just a group 34 not 31 for under the hood,as I'm done with yellow tops cause they are over priced.
I'm gonna ground in the back only to save wire and the difference is not alot. only issue is that i will have to disconnect 2 grounds if i'm working on my car. I'll update the install thread with my work at a later date.
Almost like this thread was a chat room tonite. hot button topic. not too much as far as info on the forum about this topic so good stuff.

[ttocs]

I thought you had installed a HO alt already. That fixed all of my voltage problems with out the 2nd battery. adding a 2nd battery on a high current system will probably lead to it being replaced sooner then later.

Sounds like you are moving forward with it, be sure to let us know how it holds up for the long term.

[Stryker]

I thought you had installed a HO alt already. That fixed all of my voltage problems with out the 2nd battery. adding a 2nd battery on a high current system will probably lead to it being replaced sooner then later.

Sounds like you are moving forward with it, be sure to let us know how it holds up for the long term.

no..... I only have the gear(amps and speaks) in the car and lookin fugly for now. was too long without tunes. Alt be goin in tomorrow or weds depending on time. I'm pulling close to 320+ amps of current at volume so i think an extra batt is needed for my system as i'm approaching 3500RMS. Ya adding batts only puts 7amps extra for each battery added so the alt i have will barely notice i'm sure. Matthew at mechman told me i could run 5 battery's without issue if i wanted but uhhh that would be $$$ and not necessary at all. I'm gonna sleep on it and decide what to do, maybe do alt first thing and if I do not need another batt great, but if so, no big deal.