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Old 09-05-2014, 04:39 PM   #1
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Electrically challenged - house battery reinstall question

I'm about to turn 44 and my memory's not what it used to be, not to mention my fear of electronics is like my fear of horses - they have a mind of their own and are unpredictable. I have a nagging feeling about how I reinstalled my new AGM battery I just bought. I'm usually pretty good about paying attention to how I disassemble things, but when a month went by and I kinda lost track.

I'm pretty sure I reconnected all the battery cables properly with the exception of the ground cable coming from the inverter. The inverter is in the van, the AGM is underneath to the rear. Looks like the ground wire from the inverter comes through the floor and back to the vecinity of the house battery. After much pondering, I decided this ground cable attaches to the frame at the same place the ground from the AGM does. The only other explanation for it's location would be that it attaches directly to the neg. battery terminal. This doesn't seem logical though.

Can someone just confirm for me that attaching it to the frame at the same location as the AGM ground is right? I don't really see another place for it. My display panel in the van is showing 13 + volts so I think I'm good. I just haven't turned on the inverter/charger yet for fear of blowing something up.

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Old 09-05-2014, 08:07 PM   #2
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Re: Electrically challenged - house battery reinstall questi

Quote:
Originally Posted by ecmccarthy
I'm about to turn 44 and my memory's not what it used to be, not to mention my fear of electronics is like my fear of horses - they have a mind of their own and are unpredictable. I have a nagging feeling about how I reinstalled my new AGM battery I just bought. I'm usually pretty good about paying attention to how I disassemble things, but when a month went by and I kinda lost track.

I'm pretty sure I reconnected all the battery cables properly with the exception of the ground cable coming from the inverter. The inverter is in the van, the AGM is underneath to the rear. Looks like the ground wire from the inverter comes through the floor and back to the vecinity of the house battery. After much pondering, I decided this ground cable attaches to the frame at the same place the ground from the AGM does. The only other explanation for it's location would be that it attaches directly to the neg. battery terminal. This doesn't seem logical though.

Can someone just confirm for me that attaching it to the frame at the same location as the AGM ground is right? I don't really see another place for it. My display panel in the van is showing 13 + volts so I think I'm good. I just haven't turned on the inverter/charger yet for fear of blowing something up.
The neutral lead that powers the inverter? The neutral can attach both at the battery and the frame at the same time. The frame is kind of a universal grounding point. A direct connection to the battery is a little better. Sometimes using both can have issues, but in most cases it won't. Some electronics require a single connection to the source skipping a chassis ground. It's rare. My van has a rated cable from the battery neutral going to a rated lug (same as the positive). From that lug there is a cable going to the chassis ground strip that is the central tie point for most of the 12v negative stuff. The Neutral strip is connected to the frame as well...bonded so to speak.
If you connect to where the battery neutral terminates I'd think that is the correct spot. Just a guess on my part not looking at your set up.
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Old 09-05-2014, 08:40 PM   #3
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Re: Electrically challenged - house battery reinstall questi

FWIW, every ground/neutral cable in my van terminates to a common point on the frame, and from there via a single cable to the battery. This includes inverter, converter (shore power), etc.
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