Ground to steel hull?

[flargin]

Should a generator neutral and/or battery banks negative be connected to the Steel hull of the boat?

 

[boat1010]

Re: Ground to steel hull?

Are you talking 12 VDC? I was a little confused when you were talking generator and batteries. Most boats have both wires so you can have a circuit. But just like a car, the chassis is the ground.

 

[flargin]

Re: Ground to steel hull?

for both. We have 12V system and a Generator.

So the question is should we ground the boat with the 12V circuit, AC system, or both in this situation?

 

[flargin]

Re: Ground to steel hull?

I found the answer to my question at this page:Common Ground

It should have all grounds combined and attached to hull.
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Common Ground Point (ship's ground)

* grounds from batteries, engine, switch-panel negative bus bar, bonding system, auxiliary power generator, underwater ground plate, ship's 120 Volt safety-ground, and LORAN signal ground all meet at one point

This point must be a heavy bus bar or bracket with bolted connections.

Note: When referring to 12 Volt wiring, 'ground', 'negative' and 'ground return' are all equivalent terms.

* easy to access and located as far above bilge levels as practicable

* labeled as Common Ground Point​

 

[dr01allen]

Re: Ground to steel hull?

there's a difference between ground and the negative terminal.

All systems should have a common ground.

Do not connect the negative terminal of batteries or generator to the hull.

Check further on the Common Ground link for wiring DC systems.

da