Electrical ground question(s)
I'm thinking of installing a medium size inverter so I can use my laptop while running on 12V DC.
This Power Bright unit is an example of what I'm considering.
There's a space under one of the dinette seats, right near the power center, which would be great for this. The 12V fuse bank has two unused circuits, so I figure I'll use one! So about installing this:
(1) one wire runs from the fuse bank to the positive (usually red) connector on the inverter. Yes?
(2) If the inverter has a chassis ground connector, this could go to the frame of the converter, right next door, which has a chassis ground connector. Yes?
(3) But what about the "ground" connector on the inverter? Usually black. When I look at, for example, the 12VDC connector which is intended for the TV set up front, there are two wires: one orange and one white. The orange wire goes back to the fuse block. And the white goes back to a ground bus right behind the fuse block. This bus, in turn, is grounded to the chassis. This bus is REALLY hard to get at; I'd have to do some serious dismantling of stuff. I see why the ground wire has to be run to the TV cabinet, which isn't near any chassis ground points. BUT -- and this is the real question here -- in my situation, can't I just connect the inverter's ground wire to the same point as the chassis ground? Aren't these two electrically equivalent? Or am I missing something big?
Thanks!
Rich
This Power Bright unit is an example of what I'm considering.
There's a space under one of the dinette seats, right near the power center, which would be great for this. The 12V fuse bank has two unused circuits, so I figure I'll use one! So about installing this:
(1) one wire runs from the fuse bank to the positive (usually red) connector on the inverter. Yes?
(2) If the inverter has a chassis ground connector, this could go to the frame of the converter, right next door, which has a chassis ground connector. Yes?
(3) But what about the "ground" connector on the inverter? Usually black. When I look at, for example, the 12VDC connector which is intended for the TV set up front, there are two wires: one orange and one white. The orange wire goes back to the fuse block. And the white goes back to a ground bus right behind the fuse block. This bus, in turn, is grounded to the chassis. This bus is REALLY hard to get at; I'd have to do some serious dismantling of stuff. I see why the ground wire has to be run to the TV cabinet, which isn't near any chassis ground points. BUT -- and this is the real question here -- in my situation, can't I just connect the inverter's ground wire to the same point as the chassis ground? Aren't these two electrically equivalent? Or am I missing something big?
Thanks!
Rich
