So I was checking the transmission fluid on my Hunter 356 and saw this green wire hanging. It is actually two wires, one from the engine and one from a conduit running astern that come together and go nowhere. Normally, I would expect them to fasten on a nut or bolt head, but there is nothing within reach that I can see. Wire starts in center of top picture and exits top right. Joined wires hanging in bottom pic in compartment with fuel tank starboard of shaft compartment. Thoughts?
Ground?
- Thread starter danm1
- Start date
I can only assume that you are the second owner of the boat and the previous owner (PO) stood a few too many night watches before selling the boat.
I see an extra wire attached to the Xmission housing just CCW to the first one you mention which makes even less sense.
Any chance the PO had used an overboard zinc anode at some time ? I had attached my connecting wire to the block when I was having corrosion problems until I left the slip I was in.
I see an extra wire attached to the Xmission housing just CCW to the first one you mention which makes even less sense.
Any chance the PO had used an overboard zinc anode at some time ? I had attached my connecting wire to the block when I was having corrosion problems until I left the slip I was in.
Perhaps this is a bonding thing (not to be confused with grounding)?
"Bonding is the connection of non-current-carrying conductive elements like enclosures and structures. Grounding is the attachment of bonded systems to the earth. Both are necessary to safeguard people and property from electric hazards."
"Bonding is the connection of non-current-carrying conductive elements like enclosures and structures. Grounding is the attachment of bonded systems to the earth. Both are necessary to safeguard people and property from electric hazards."
I am the third owner so anything is possible. In any case, you would think it connected to something originally. Just can't see where.
Guessing what it is and where or to what it should be connected isn’t the best choice. Trace where it/they come from and to what they are currently attached. That should tell you what their purpose is and what to do.
bonding wires and ground wires serve different purposes which affects what to do with them, e.g., grounding to keel bolt for lightning protection or stray current protection vs.AC or DC bonding to avoid multiple ground loops.
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A bonding wire should be bare copper, i.e, no insulating jacket. Green or green/yellow is for the AC grounding wire.
Maybe…but mine are green insulated. And they are not connected to the AC system at all.
Greg
Coincidentally, perhaps, I get a ground wire fault on my galvanic isolator monitor. What does that imply for where it should connect?
No, not always, this is misleading. Boat builders do not always ‘follow the rules’, and POs do not either.
Well, yes, I shouldn't have been so definitive. I actually don't know if there's a standard for that, it's just that I've almost always seen bare, solid copper wire of something like 12 gauge for this purpose. But builders do vary in how they do things.
If you are making an absolute/definitive statement please reference the standard that requires this……..
This is an interesting article:
Bonding Basics
A point: "To complete connections between these components for the purpose of bonding, the conductors should be a minimum of #8 AWG. If doing double duty as a lightning-protection system, they must be a minimum of #6 AWG."
Thinking about it, mine's probably #8, maybe #6, not the #12 I cited earlier. It's pretty thick stuff!
Bonding Basics
A point: "To complete connections between these components for the purpose of bonding, the conductors should be a minimum of #8 AWG. If doing double duty as a lightning-protection system, they must be a minimum of #6 AWG."
Thinking about it, mine's probably #8, maybe #6, not the #12 I cited earlier. It's pretty thick stuff!
Mine is #10 AWG [Green-Yellow striped] and connected properly to the Standing rigging and my Keel bolts.
But...
It is not intended to pass the current of a lightning strike.
It is used to do a Faraday Cage around your well water grounded boat.
Jim...
The entire topic of grounding, bonding, and lightning protection is complicated, confusing, and not without controversy, i.e., disagreement between experts. At least I find it so. Even the solid versus stranded wire aspect. As I mentioned, by grounding/bonding system uses thick, solid wire. We all know that solid isn't a good choice for conductors that may regularly flex; but, solid has higher Ampacity than stranded. So, a trade off, I guess. Mines is installed such that it's subject to no or very little flexing, although I know the hull flexes some. But, that's how it was built.
Looking at the pictures again after reading these posts and an article on grounding systems, I am wondering if the reason the wires are not connected to anything is because they are merely connecting to each other. Effectively, I've got a green/yellow wire seemingly from the AC connected thru a cable lug (don't know why) to another short length of green/yellow wire connected to the engine. Seems like the wire should have just run directly to the engine without the extra connection. Does that make sense?