fuel tank earth-end ground

[roscozen]

i'm installing 2 new gas tanks in my boat, moeller plastic tanks. on top are 2 metal fittings. one is the fill neck tube , the other is the sender unit plate.
the fill neck tube requires an earth-end ground for static elec drain off and moeller suggests i connect it to a metal surface on the outboard or outdrive.

the sender plate has a fitting for a ground wire as one side of the power for the fuel gauge. the 2 fittings ( sender unit plate, fill tube plate ) are about one inch apart.

can i connect the 2 plates with 1 wire that goes to my outboard block?
seems like the 2 wires would go to the same location anyway...

 

[rjwoodrome]

Re: fuel tank earth-end ground

As an Electrician... grounding is by far the most important issue out there.. the more grounding the better... it may seem redundant but its for the best. personally I would add more. because plastic tanks produce a static charge. ground the livin crap out of it..Happy motoring and may your tanks never run dry Lol...

 

[roscozen]

Re: fuel tank earth-end ground

As an Electrician... grounding is by far the most important issue out there.. the more grounding the better... it may seem redundant but its for the best. personally I would add more. because plastic tanks produce a static charge. ground the livin crap out of it..Happy motoring and may your tanks never run dry Lol...

i agree that the stakes are very high here. so...where to ground the fill neck, sparky?

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: fuel tank earth-end ground

Everything in your boat should be common grounded with a seperate wire other than your electrical grounds in my opinion...although I am not an electrician

It's called bonding. While bonding will incorporate your battery ground, it should also connect your motor, gauges, radios, hull (if a metal boat) etc.

 

[roscozen]

Re: fuel tank earth-end ground

ok, thanks, guys. i'm gonna do the earth ground to the motor block and do the sender ground to the battery and keep them separate.

 

[gss036]

Re: fuel tank earth-end ground

Hopefully somebody with good boat electrical knowledge will jump in here with a good answer. I have never changed out a fuel tank and am thinking about doing it this summer and I was considering a Moeller 75-85 gal tank. So my question, would tying the above mentioned ground connections together and run a #8 wire to the black ground cable from the engine to the battery switch suffice? The engine ground wire comes off the block and in my case is probably a #2-4 wire, quite large (225 Honda) and comes straight from the block. Would that work ok if I went that way? Not trying to hijack the thread but just add on to with my opinions and hopefully get a straight answer for all the questions presented. Ok I see roscozen has already posted his idea. How does that sound.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: fuel tank earth-end ground

Hopefully somebody with good boat electrical knowledge will jump in here with a good answer..........

The way it was explained to me is that you run a daisy chain "ground" (bond wire) to everything metal or electric in the boat. Then you wire up your power connections pos and neg as separate runs. The bond wire is redundant.

Maybe a boat tech or mech can give a better answer.

 

[roscozen]

Re: fuel tank earth-end ground

Hopefully somebody with good boat electrical knowledge will jump in here with a good answer. I have never changed out a fuel tank and am thinking about doing it this summer and I was considering a Moeller 75-85 gal tank. So my question, would tying the above mentioned ground connections together and run a #8 wire to the black ground cable from the engine to the battery switch suffice? The engine ground wire comes off the block and in my case is probably a #2-4 wire, quite large (225 Honda) and comes straight from the block. Would that work ok if I went that way? Not trying to hijack the thread but just add on to with my opinions and hopefully get a straight answer for all the questions presented. Ok I see roscozen has already posted his idea. How does that sound.

hijack away gs, i think mark is on to something. from all i've heard from you guys plus what i've read in the archives, multiplicity is a good idea.
however... my boat is on a trailer when i go to the gas station to fill up. so no earth-end ground possible when i need it most.
any ideas?

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: fuel tank earth-end ground

however... my boat is on a trailer when i go to the gas station to fill up. so no earth-end ground possible when i need it most. any ideas?

Here's the cheapest way to make sure the boat is grounded when on a trailer before filling it up:
Touch the fill cap with your finger. That's it. You (standing on the ground) have grounded the boat.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: fuel tank earth-end ground

roscozen wrote: .../the fill neck tube requires an earth-end ground for static elec drain off and moeller suggests i connect it to a metal surface on the outboard or outdrive.....

roscozen wrote:however... my boat is on a trailer when i go to the gas station to fill up. so no earth-end ground possible when i need it most.

I have never heard of literally earth-grounding while fueling!
Check out: http://www.boatus.com/foundation/cleanwater/drops/trailerboats.asp

Unless it is a portable tank (which should be placed on the ground) grounding other than the bonding described should not be necessary.

Mark