Insufficient grounds, are you getting the most out of your system?

[GPcarAudio.com Pro Seller]

GP tip: Are you getting the most out of what you currently have?*

Solving insufficient grounding:

To some of you this may be novice, but in my time I have seen this method used rarely.

Start your car and use a dmm to read what that voltage says directly off the front battery.

Lets say it says 14.4v (car running on the underhood battery, stereo not on)

Now go back to the rear battery, or if no rear battery directly to your amp.

Touch the positive of the dmm to the positive post of the battery (or positive input on amp), and then take the negitive wire on the dmm and touch the current ground you are using, if it says anything less than what your underhood battery says (14.4v in our example) than you have insufficient grounding.

So lets say you do this, your underhood battery says example 14.4v, and when you go back to the read the rear voltage of the battery/ and or amp it is says 13.5v, you are loosing out on almost a full volt of power, and in the 12v world, 13 to 14 volts can be a significant percentage.

So now its time to locate a new ground, again Using the DMM, holding the positive on the dmm to the positive on battery/ amp input,

With the negitive on the DMM search for a new grounding location,

once you find a ground that reads 14.4 you know your in a spot that will discharge properly.

This method ensures your voltage is lined up perfectly with the underhood battery, one of the few steps to ensure the best in voltage stability and getting the most out of your equipment.

So what are you waiting for! Go see how your voltage lines up from front to back and let us know!

Click to read more...

 

[soundstream5ch]

Thanks, it is a really good trick!

This is when you can reach the battery or current that comes directly from the battery at 14.4 volts. But what happens if you can't have access to the battery cause its too far?

For example, if I would like to check the ground for my f***** lc7i that is situated under the driver seat? That may seems like a noob question (well it is), but I do you know how much current is going in the lc7i? Is 14.4 volts or 12 volts?

Well, my question is how can I make sure I have a good ground for my f****** lc7i? I thought you could use the resistance. But im not totally sure on that.

Your help is very appreciated, my f****** lc7i is not working and im hoping it is a faulty ground.

thanks

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

if it says anything less than what your underhood battery says (14.4v in our example) than you have insufficient grounding.
once you find a ground that reads 14.4 you know your in a spot that will discharge properly.

This method ensures your voltage is lined up perfectly with the underhood battery.

Neither of these statements are true. And why do you write about voltage being "lined up" with the front battery and then talk about 14.4V? Also, a grammar check would help.

 

[soundstream5ch]

Neither of these statements are true. Also, a grammar check would help.

What would be?

 

[Based]

Dang that is a good trick. I have a Stinger VM on my amp and I get 14.8 so I'm good but for people without VM's that's a really good trick.

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

I'm just grounding my amp to the battery bank with two runs of Sky High 2/0 OFC, and grounding the battery bank to the engine block in multiple locations. I think that should work fine, no need for a DMM. Right?

 

[soundstream5ch]

PURPLESYRUP: Solving insufficient grounding: To some of you this may be novice, but in my tim..... BLA BLA BLA.....

BASED (senior VIP member): "Dang that is a good trick. I have a Stinger VM on my amp and I get 14.8 so BLA BLA BLA".

GCKLESS (caraudio veteran): "Neither of these statements are true. And why do you write about voltage being "lined up" BLA BLA BLA ".

SOUNDSTREAM5CH: (noob) "Totally freaking confused" SNIF SNIF SNIF

Maybe anyone else have another opinion

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

PURPLESYRUP: Solving insufficient grounding: To some of you this may be novice, but in my tim..... BLA BLA BLA.....
BASED (senior VIP member): "Dang that is a good trick. I have a Stinger VM on my amp and I get 14.8 so BLA BLA BLA".

GCKLESS (caraudio veteran): "Neither of these statements are true. And why do you write about voltage being "lined up" BLA BLA BLA ".

SOUNDSTREAM5CH: (noob) "Totally freaking confused" SNIF SNIF SNIF

Maybe anyone else have another opinion

Basically, if you have a shitty ground, you're losing voltage to the amp, and power. A bad ground is more resistance

With the DMM method, you're looking for the lowest resistance point to ground your amp. The lower resistance will allow more current to flow, and you will have less voltage drop.

 

[Based]

Thanks, it is a really good trick!
This is when you can reach the battery or current that comes directly from the battery at 14.4 volts. But what happens if you can't have access to the battery cause its too far?

For example, if I would like to check the ground for my f***** lc7i that is situated under the driver seat? That may seems like a noob question (well it is), but I do you know how much current is going in the lc7i? Is 14.4 volts or 12 volts?

Well, my question is how can I make sure I have a good ground for my f****** lc7i? I thought you could use the resistance. But im not totally sure on that.

Your help is very appreciated, my f****** lc7i is not working and im hoping it is a faulty ground.

thanks

Just find a way to get to it's + and - with a dmm that's the only way.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

It's impossible to have no voltage drop. Even if it's only 1" of power wire a sufficiently high count DMM is going to read a drop in voltage. The ground circuit is absolutely crucial for maximizing your system's performance, but you don't have to do a voltage drop test across the full length of the vehicle. Pick two adjacent connection points in the circuit, such as between the amplifier and the chassis ground location. You should be grounding to the chassis, not just laying a ground cable directly to the battery. If your system needs more than 4 AWG wire for the current draw you may need a parallel ground cable. That means it goes from the chassis ground at the equipment up to the battery's chassis ground.

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

It's impossible to have no voltage drop. Even if it's only 1" of power wire a sufficiently high count DMM is going to read a drop in voltage. The ground circuit is absolutely crucial for maximizing your system's performance, but you don't have to do a voltage drop test across the full length of the vehicle. Pick two adjacent connection points in the circuit, such as between the amplifier and the chassis ground location. You should be grounding to the chassis, not just laying a ground cable directly to the battery. If your system needs more than 4 AWG wire for the current draw you may need a parallel ground cable. That means it goes from the chassis ground at the equipment up to the battery's chassis ground.

Everything for my vehicle is in the back. Amps, Batteries, and Alternator are all less then one foot away from eachother.

You can't completely eliminate voltage drop, but its best to make it as low as possible.

 

[Based]

yeah that's true no matter what there's always at least .000000000000001 voltage drop lol.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

https://jlaudiotechnicalservices.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/getting-grounded/

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

Another example of someone repeating some information that they think is fact and causing mass confusion.

 

[loudenuff]

Everything for my vehicle is in the back. Amps, Batteries, and Alternator are all less then one foot away from eachother.
You can't completely eliminate voltage drop, but its best to make it as low as possible.

how exactly do you have your alternator in the back of your vehicle