Electric Panel-Ground?

[Nelsonhow]

I'm trying to figure out why the cabin lights on my H 30 aren't working. When looking at the back of the breaker panel are the ground wires supposed to be connected to the negative bus bar that runs down the negative side of the of the breakers? Are all of the ground wires (the black ones) supposed be attached to the stand alone bus bar which is then connected to the negative side of the breakers? Most of the ground wires go to the bus bar that is separate from the breakers by the PO seems to have attached a number of ground wires on top of the bus bar that runs across the negative side of the breakers. Is this correct?

Suggestions?

 

[Jimmy Jenkins]

Just went through this with my '77 H30. You are correct in stating that all the black ground wires go to that negative bus bar.
Jimmy

 

[Steve C.]

My 78 hunter 30 had bad grounds as well. I bought a bus bar, ran a heavier ground wire from the trans ground, and grounded all the wires to that. I found that my spreader lights used the ground for the switch, instead of the power wire. The cabin lights were wired in series, if there is a bad connection at the first light none of the other lights will work.

 

[Bill Roosa]

negatives to a breaker

This is certainly not standard or suggested. Only +12 volt should be handled by the breakers. Wire color is not a good indication of what a wire is actually carrying so test with a volt meter. All your grounds have to return to the battery. They can go directly (bilge pump) or through a buss bar mounted separately or from a buss bar on the panel.
A good rules of thumb is the fewer times you have to use connectors in a circuit the better. Connections rust and cause problems.