emt.micah
Member
Respondcode3 said:Id use separate grounds
ERT1111 said:All grounds should go directly to the battery ground. Yes that’s a lot of extra wire but you will eliminate problems that go with grounding to sheet metal.
ERT1111 said:Install a relay from your ignition sense wire to supply your siren and radio. Most fuse block taps do not provide sufficient currant to add on power draws.
ERT1111 said:Yes, fuse the arrow stick. Always use a fuse for everything you add.
Replace your 50 amp fuse with a circuit breaker. This makes it resettable and a way to turn off all your additional equipment if someone other than you will be using the vehicle. Also I would recommend after the 50 breaker that you install a fuse panel and use that to supply power to all of you accessory’s.
Just my 2 cents worth.
ERT1111 said:All grounds should go directly to the battery ground. Yes that’s a lot of extra wire but you will eliminate problems that go with grounding to sheet metal.
Outdoor Ed said:If you connect any accessory ground wires directly to the negative battery post, you must install fuses on the ground wires. Otherwise in the event your vehicle's main ground to the chassis/engine block fails, the entire vehicle (including the starter!) could try to ground through your radio, siren etc. which could overload and/or burn up the ground wires if not fused. It's not a super common thing to have happen, but I have seen it in some older vehicles and heavy equipment.
For the most part though I rarely connect grounds direct to the battery unless it's a huge current accessory like a winch or large inverter that could overload the factory ground cable. The best chassis/body grounds are typically bare metal that isn't too exposed to weather/dirt/salt. Not every piece of metal in the vehicle is a good ground, some pieces of metal might be rubber mounted or only attached to plastic or painted surfaces, so either test your potential grounding point or try to use factory ground points (generally found behind kickpanels, on the firewall, in the trunk etc.)