electrical help???

[Steve]

I need help with my electrical/battery charging systemI have a 2 bank battery system, with a charger on them, my problem is that I have to ground the charger and I’m not sure where to do it. Could I theoretically ground a wire to the negative side of a battery, then run a wire from negative battery 1 to negative battery 2? At the moment I have it grounded to my outboard but it is new and the paint is on there pretty thick so I don’t think it will work well. I have an H23 with a very limited electrical system. I don’t have a radio or I would ground it there.

 

[Doug T.]

Ground bus

You can do is as you describe, but the best and cleanest solution is get yourself a negative ground bus. Run all of your ground wires to the bus: battery (-) terminals, charger ground, engine ground, etc.Check out the link below

 

[Frank Walker]

Misleading Ground

Steve, I suspect from your request that you are talking about the AC ground for the batttery charger. This is the green wire that is cabled with the wite and black wires in your shore power connection. This wire must be connected to the ground terminal(case) of the batttery charger. According to ABYC requirements this ground must also be connected to the negative 12V ships battery system. The negative 12 volt ships system is probably already connected to the case of the outboard as part of the starting circuit if the outboard has electrical starting.

 

[Dan Sheehan AMS]

Caution with AC power

If it is the AC side of the charger you are talking about, you need to be very careful that it is wired correctly. As per ABYC standards there should also be a dual pole main breaker and a branch circuit breaker for the charger. Improperly wired AC circuits have been responsible for deaths caused by stray current leakage. Also if not properly installed you raise the possibility of stray current corrosion of your outboard lower unit. If you are going to do it, do it right or get someone to install who knows the proper standards.Dan Sheehan