what is a good ground?

what is considered a good ground? i am trying to improve my speakers as they whistle at me so i wanna try and change the ground to see if it stops. whats a good ground and how can you test?

A good ground is a connection on the chassis direct. Metal on Metal contact.

yep if u want a good ground, sand back the paint away from the point where it will be connected to to provide max contact

Don't need to sand unless you enjoy rust. Use where a bolt goes into the chassis. The threads on the chassis is what makes the ground connection.

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Originally Posted by aaronng

Don't need to sand unless you enjoy rust. Use where a bolt goes into the chassis. The threads on the chassis is what makes the ground connection.

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sorry but you are not right on this coz the threads is never had a good contact with the terminal, usually the terminal hole is slightly wider so you can put the bolt in, so if dont scrap the paint the terminal is still sitting on the paint, so YES you better scrap the paint but dont FORGET to put some touch up paint after that, so you wont have any problem with rust.

Good ground is always direct bolt into your battery terminal ..........

I would suggest to buy one of these:
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28771

This unit has done wonders for my car! :thumbsup:

I did a review on this.It's just approved by the Mods.

Also you can buy an 'Isolator' that runs off the RCA plugs on the amp.

Grounding explanation
http://www.bcae1.com/ground.htm

More info regarding ground loop isolators
http://www.bcae1.com/glisoltr.htm

ps. Grounding straight to the battery can introduce noise, grounding close to the Head Units grounding is often the best location.
Also, you should scrape away the paint on mid/high powered Amps, or even weld the ground straight to the chassis if the Amp is 1000w+
A bad ground can damage your Amp and introduce noise, so grounding is important.

it is always better to have a ground from the battery to the chassis. I have 4awg cable ground negative battery terminal to chassis. Then i always have to rear batteries to stop voltage drop along the power cables. I run a 4awg from my amp straight to the battery. which then also has another 4awg run to the chassis. Make sure u use good size cable usually same size as ur power cable.
MAKE SURE U SAND AWAY THE PAINT TO BARE METAL AND GROUND FROM THERE.

Also what amp are u using. If its Jaycar Response u aint going to get rid of that whistle. The other options is trying different RCAs.

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Originally Posted by narchi

it is always better to have a ground from the battery to the chassis.

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Definately.

To keep it simple...... Signal wires eg rca's or high level inputs dont like having power wires running next to them, run the signal cables down one side of the car and the power cable down the other side. as a couple of peeps already said, run the same size earth as your power cable. I always join additional earths directly from the negative terminal on the battery one to the chassis and one to the motor, this stops your lights from dimming when you are pumping some serious bass from your killa sub's, and also reduces noise, i also suggest buying aftermarket battery terminals for both your positive and negative poles to cope with these extra earths and for a cleaner connection. Earths are so important and also if you install the system properly you should never have to use ground loop isolators to cut out noise.....

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Originally Posted by sik-vic

To keep it simple...... Signal wires eg rca's or high level inputs dont like having power wires running next to them, run the signal cables down one side of the car and the power cable down the other side. as a couple of peeps already said, run the same size earth as your power cable. I always join additional earths directly from the negative terminal on the battery one to the chassis and one to the motor, this stops your lights from dimming when you are pumping some serious bass from your killa sub's, and also reduces noise, i also suggest buying aftermarket battery terminals for both your positive and negative poles to cope with these extra earths and for a cleaner connection. Earths are so important and also if you install the system properly you should never have to use ground loop isolators to cut out noise.....

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Agree with what he said.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by narchi

it is always better to have a ground from the battery to the chassis. I have 4awg cable ground negative battery terminal to chassis. Then i always have to rear batteries to stop voltage drop along the power cables. I run a 4awg from my amp straight to the battery. which then also has another 4awg run to the chassis. Make sure u use good size cable usually same size as ur power cable.
MAKE SURE U SAND AWAY THE PAINT TO BARE METAL AND GROUND FROM THERE.

Also what amp are u using. If its Jaycar Response u aint going to get rid of that whistle. The other options is trying different RCAs.

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definatly agree with the jaycar response call.....
but also try to keep earths as SHORT as possible

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sik-vic

also try to keep earths as SHORT as possible

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very very true on this front :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by aka_NSX

sorry but you are not right on this coz the threads is never had a good contact with the terminal, usually the terminal hole is slightly wider so you can put the bolt in, so if dont scrap the paint the terminal is still sitting on the paint, so YES you better scrap the paint but dont FORGET to put some touch up paint after that, so you wont have any problem with rust.

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So scrape paint off and then put touch up paint back on? :confused:
Even if you put touchup paint around the terminal so that any exposed metal is covered, the sanded part that is under the terminal can rust if it is humid.

but Electronic corrosion control then. done.

What you do is scrape the paint off from around the chassis bolt hole, then bolt down the ground cable's ring terminal so the terminal touches the chassis, then paint over the Bolt and Terminal so air/humidity cannot reach the exposed metal and cause rust. If the bolt goes straight through the chassis, you may need to paint the other side so air cant find its way in.

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Originally Posted by aaronng

So scrape paint off and then put touch up paint back on? :confused:
Even if you put touchup paint around the terminal so that any exposed metal is covered, the sanded part that is under the terminal can rust if it is humid.

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oh well thats IMO, and I never had any problem with all the car I have done :p