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Old 04-25-2018, 03:30 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Grounding to Chassis ( Engine Battery, Solar Battery and A/C Inverter?)

I just want to make sure I am thinking about this correctly :

Grounding to the Chassis - My Engine and Battery are already grounded to the chassis. I want to ground my Solar Battery to the chassis.

Can I safely ground my DC solar components and solar batter to the chassis or is this also terrible?

Can I also ground my A/C inverter? Or would this, as I presume, be terrible?

Please let me know if you need any particulars of my set up other than the main components


'Magnum PT-100 solar charger
4 - 300w Trina Panels
2- Lifeline 6v batteries
Dimensions 1200w / 12v inverter

Thank you,
Tyler

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Old 04-26-2018, 07:46 AM   #2
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All higher-current or expensive or sensitive consumer devices should have full round-trip return wiring to the bank's load busses, same gauge wiring both pos and neg.

And most importantly, all charge sources.

I personally only use chassis "ground" for device cases when the mfg specs that.

But unimportant cheap low amp gadgets, not much harm done if (when) the return path becomes unreliable.
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Old 04-26-2018, 07:48 AM   #3
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AC grounding is an entirely different, safety-critical issue.

Just carefully follow inverter mfg install instructions.

Anything else with AC currents, call in a pro
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Old 04-26-2018, 08:43 AM   #4
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I use chassis ground for my 12v DC side but my setup is probably much different than most folks. My inverter is grounded to the same connector as my house batteries, and my other power draw points are much lower loads.
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Old 04-26-2018, 09:28 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Omingnome View Post
Can I safely ground my DC solar components and solar batter to the chassis or is this also terrible?

Can I also ground my A/C inverter? Or would this, as I presume, be terrible?
Howdy Tyler,

Are you asking about the negative cable for these components or the "earth" connector (the "ground" from the inverter/charge controller "box" - sometimes called "chassis ground")??

I agree with the others in terms of the negative cable for these items. Use a good quality, large gauge (as appropriate) cable for these items.

The "earth" or "chassis ground" from the box/enclosure should be grounded to the chassis/frame/body (they are usually all grounded together).

For the AC side of things, the ground wire (the bare one) should also be connected to the chassis.
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