Is it safe to use the handbrake as a grounding post?

[DJTM]

I'm installing an amplifier and was wondering if anyone has ever done this and we're there any issues?

 

[nikitis]

I would not recommend it. If your body ever came in contact with the other end of where that wire is going in some weird way, it won't be good.

Small voltage grounds are fine for it though and is often done for stereos for bypassing modes when not in park.

 

[Rock-N-Ruth]

I'm installing an amplifier and was wondering if anyone has ever done this and we're there any issues?

That is going to depend on how well the hand bake mount is grounded to the electrical chassis. Since it is mechanically connected to the floor, it would depend on the stability of the electrical ground connection between the floor and the chassis.

One way to test that is with an ohm meter. Measure the resistance between a known good chassis ground point and your hand brake ground. The value should be really close to zero.

One other not is your wire routing. Looks like a loose snag hazard to me. That may just be perspective. It is a good idea to route wires where you are not likely to trip over them or snag them with anything.

 

[DJTM]

I would not recommend it. If your body ever came in contact with the other end of where that wire is going in some weird way, it won't be good.

Small voltage grounds are fine for it though and is often done for stereos for bypassing modes when not in park.

Hey Nikitis, thanks for responding When you say bypassing modes does that have anything to do with all the noise I'm hearing in the audio signal? I can hear a noise that follows along exactly with the hum of the engine as I accelerate and also when I use the turn signal.

That is going to depend on how well the hand bake mount is grounded to the electrical chassis. Since it is mechanically connected to the floor, it would depend on the stability of the electrical ground connection between the floor and the chassis.

One way to test that is with an ohm meter. Measure the resistance between a known good chassis ground point and your hand brake ground. The value should be really close to zero.

One other not is your wire routing. Looks like a loose snag hazard to me. That may just be perspective. It is a good idea to route wires where you are not likely to trip over them or snag them with anything.

Thanks for responding Rock-N-Ruth. I will test the ground with a multimeter. The ground wires that come with the sub and amp are each 3 feet long. It's not much to work with, but I know the ground wires are kept short for a reason. I was thinking maybe I need to drill 2 holes in the floor where each component is located, but then Nikitis mentioned small voltage grounds so maybe that would be a better option?

Take a look below at my configuration:

 

[somewhereinusa]

That is just begging to get a foot caught in it as well as looking ugly. There are many places behind the dash you can ground a wire.

 

[Mr P]

If your body ever came in contact with the other end of where that wire is going in some weird way, it won't be good.

Small voltage grounds are fine for it though and is often done for stereos for bypassing modes when not in park.

I've done a lot of vehicle wiring and I have no idea what those two statements mean. Care to clarify?

 

[nikitis]

If it were me, I'd probably for a speaker system not tie into the chassis ground, but run a direct ground wire to the battery so it's a closed ground. When varying things go on and off that are tied to the chassis ground you may experience varying noises as you described.

I lot of your fans for example are tied to chassis ground. Turn that on and suddenly frequencies change on the chassis ground plane. For something sensitive like speakers which convert electricity into sound could be affected.

I once had a trailer that came from harbor freight. The trailer lights wouldn't ever work right and it was because they used the body for a ground. I fixed the issue by running a direct ground wire closed off from the chassis itself and the lighting was brighter and so much cleaner looking and worked great after that because it wasn't getting interference as it was a closed circuit on its own.

Many people don't use closed circuits often because it saves them running extra ground wires for every device but for your sound system it may require one. A simple driver fan isn't so sensitive so It can use the chassis ground. Light brightness can be affected similarly in dimness.

 

[BusBiz]

I'm installing an amplifier and was wondering if anyone has ever done this and we're there any issues?

I'm running over 2000 watt amplifiers and always opt to find a factory ground busbar to attach ground to for best results..

 

[Cheezewhiz]

Why uhh... why don't you just ground to the body/chassis? Feel like you could have a lot less wire to catch on stuff grounding somewhere else

 

[DJTM]

If it were me, I'd probably for a speaker system not tie into the chassis ground, but run a direct ground wire to the battery so it's a closed ground. When varying things go on and off that are tied to the chassis ground you may experience varying noises as you described.

I lot of your fans for example are tied to chassis ground. Turn that on and suddenly frequencies change on the chassis ground plane. For something sensitive like speakers which convert electricity into sound could be affected.

I once had a trailer that came from harbor freight. The trailer lights wouldn't ever work right and it was because they used the body for a ground. I fixed the issue by running a direct ground wire closed off from the chassis itself and the lighting was brighter and so much cleaner looking and worked great after that because it wasn't getting interference as it was a closed circuit on its own.

Many people don't use closed circuits often because it saves them running extra ground wires for every device but for your sound system it may require one. A simple driver fan isn't so sensitive so It can use the chassis ground. Light brightness can be affected similarly in dimness.

Ok I'll try connecting the ground directly to the battery. It will require 3 or 4x more length though (6-8ft)...can I still use 8 guage or should I bump up to 4?

edit: actually 4 guage wouldn't even fit in the terminals.

 

[Mr P]

A person who was an electronics repairman "back in the day" told me that a woven ground strap was better for radio noise suppression because of it's surface area. I would ground the amp to the chassis and see how well that worked. I suspect it would be fine.

 

[nikitis]

8 gauge should be fine the length. It's a stereo, we're not pulling cranking amperage.

We're testing in this case a change in noise as you stated before you were observing as you turned things on and off. If directly to the battery that should be eliminated.