Negative wire

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't one of the big 3 a heavier ground to the frame?

 

different fields I guess.

I work as an industrial electrician. We never just pick up grounds or neutrals wherever we can, everything is run back to the panel or source. Only time we can pick up grounds where ever is if its from a ground bar since all ground bars are connected together with minimum 4/0 wire and compression fitted together so they cannot come apart.

I'm not saying everything should be ran back to the battery, but just like he brought a positive distribution block for the fuse panel I'd bring a negative block back there and take everything off that negative block.

With my setup I use a blue seas 12 circuit with a ground block, so everything runs back to that.
But majority of my stuff is in the front anyways only thing in the rear is one set of lights and then the fridge in the back seat which again runs to the fuse box.


I said above part of my running everything is just because its common practice for me. And all my wiring is tucked up and in places where it wont get pinched and secured where I don't need to worry about it getting damaged and its all run in electrical tubing. NOT split loom, its completely sealed. Same stuff we use at work in communications rooms and within control wiring boxes to protect different voltage conductors.
Mine is definitely more than your average guy will do but I'm certain my elecrtical will last as long as I own the truck and if something were to go wrong I know where to look.
I also have fuses starting at the batteries before going to the fuse panel. Lots of levels of protection on all the wiring and really tidy wiring.

 

About when it may not be best to use the chassis: Just to clarify my earlier post: yes, it’s ok and less of a hassle to use the chassis for grounding low current smaller electric devices, but when using higher current accessories such as a winch, you have to be sure that both the positive and negative part of the circuit, and the ground, can handle the amps as the device - which means that the grounding strap between the chassis and engine block and the negative battery post are large enough to handle it and all the combination of everything else grounded to the chassis. So, there’s a good chance you will need to upgrade those straps if you are starting the engine, running a fridge, winch and lights and are using the chassis to ground them.

 

Using a negative block it a great idea.

 

The main cable is 10AWG, I plan to connect air compressor(it has 40Amp fuse) and few small roof lights on it with few indoor small lights for the shell and RTT. Not more than 50Amp in total.

 

That should be fine... the negative straps to the battery can handle that. I envisioned a lot more. I have a reciever mounted winch that I can run off my front or back, and use a seperate long 2-gauge two conductor cable to power it when in back, and a shorter cable for it up front. Grounding my winch to the chassis would not have been a good idea.

 

Yea, different fields teach us different things. I assume there's a code that defines how you're supposed to wire a building. I don't think I have ever seen a house ground or common go to anything but the component or the electrical panel. I'm no building electrician, I barely understand common house wiring. I have wired a few 220v outlets in a garage, replaced and troubleshooted a few bad outlets in my time but that's about the extent of my household wiring knowledge.

As for vehicles, they are a different story. Everything can be grounded to the chassis, even a winch. I believe most newer vehicles use a 0 gauge grounding wire from the battery to the chassis so you will be fine to run a winch, arb fridge, or whatever high amperage unit you want to the chassis.

Another myth: you don't need a grounding block. They are just another bridge between wires and the chassis, skip the middle man and go straight to the chassis. In aviation we don't use grounding blocks. We will use no more than 4 grounds per post (typicaly just for clutter reasons) but if there are more than 4 things to ground then there will be a copper strip that is mounted to the airframe and multiple lugs on that for grounding. For a vehicle, you can run multiple ground terminals to the bolt on the frame. If you're worried about clutter like I would be then use 4 terminals per bolt and then install another bolt. A grounding block won't be anymore efficient than a bolt in the frame and will just add cool points, nothing more.

 

ya definitely just different fields and practices.
I remember when I was wiring my battery gauge I wanted to be able to turn it on and off and was looking for a DPST switch, then my friend suggested I just switch the ground with a SPST switch.
Works and is fine in 12VDC.
Didn't think of it at first because to me thats like switching a neutral in a house or building instead of a line. big no no. Very reason being 120/240 or pretty much all AC systems are referenced to ground. Switch a neutral and go touch a light bulb socket and you'll still get a shock.

You certainly don't need a ground block and that 4 terminals to a post idea is a good idea, I just figure its even cleaner with a terminal block. Also means I don't need as many terminals cause the fuse block I use has a clamp type screw so I can just tin the wire and put it under the terminal. I also look at it in a sense of serviceability. I don't need to fuck with say 4 terminals or however many are on each post I just have a single screw and wire.

Both obviously work fine, and I'm sure the way I did would take the average guy a lot more time and fiddling to complete. For me obviously comes easy and fast as I do it every day.

 

I can’t tell who is really smart and really dumb reading these posts. I don’t pretend to know anything but I thought the only ground on vehicles is the frame. Look at where the negative terminal battery is connected to. . . The frame.

 

I'm just curious how cabin wired to frame and where. All I see negative wire from battery to the cabin. As I know cabin based on rubber cushions.

p.s. I connected to frame under the driver rear wheel area.

 

Since I have a trailer with accessories and a battery bank that use the frame as ground as well as the hitch plug for charging, I ran a new 1/0 AWG lead from my ground to the battery and motor because the original on my 2017 looked like it was more like 2 gauge...

 

The engine block is also grounded by a harness to the frame.

 

There aren't any dumb suggestions here. Just a difference in practice. Both will work well. There's always more than one way to do things.

 

It may be 2 gauge. I haven't ever cared to look that closely. A ground doesn't need to be as robust as the hot wires. The point is that everything ties into the frame at some point. The steel frame is more than capable of carrying a ground to all components. Even a 2 gauge ground will work well for just about anything automotive related.

 

think its even smaller than a 2AWG if you guys are referring to the lead that comes off the negative post and goes directly to the body.
I think its a 6AWG.

 

where is the block to frame ground located on ‘18 tacoma?

 

I drilled 3/16 hole and used self tapping 1/4 to ground my bed lights and 12v plug. Found a good spot behind passenger wheel under the inverter.