Give me the short version on bonding thru-hulls

[IH82BL8]

I'm about to install A/C on my boat and I have to bond the thru-hull, strainer, pump and A/C unit to maintain the warranty. The install manual says that the A/C unit and motor have to be bonded separately from the thru-hull and strainer. For lightning protection my mast is bonded to the external iron keel. That's pretty much all I know on the topic.

My questions: What am I bonding these components to? The keel? The DC ground plane which is in turn grounded to the keel? Or is everything bonded through the prop shaft? Are grounding and bonding not the same thing? Can anyone recommend some informative resources that I won't need to be an amateur metallurgist to understand?

BTW, I'd like to forego any discussion on bonding vs not bonding as I am required to bond these components to maintain the warranty.

Thanks.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

If properly installed, your A/C unit and pump are bonded by virtue of the common ground connection between them in a standard 3 wire power cable. Are you reading the install manual correctly? What brand A/C unit?