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There is a green grounding wire that connects in many spots on my boat. It seems to go from the gas tank to the garboard drain then to some other isolated locations by the transom. What's the purpose of this? Does it ground the boat via the water via the garboard drain?
The green wire is a bonding wire for 12 volt; the green wire for the 120 volt is the ground wire for the 120 volt, ABYC wants the 2 to connect at some point, the marine surveyors I know will not recommend this, ABYC did this because od generators running in the harbor as a preventitive for shock for swimmers.
New boats for the 12 volt system has a yellow stripe on the green bonding wire, not so on the 120 volt ground wire; do not confuse the white neutral for a green ground wire.
I will get flack for this comment, there are issues with the genset and ground fault, as well as zinc issues.
Go for it guys!
Pat says: DO-IT-RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!
Bayliner 3870 "ALASKA33)
Twin 350 GM power
Located in Seward, AK
Retired marine surveyor
The bond wire is exactly that... it is used to "bond' the metal parts of your boat that may come in contact with the water it's sitting in.
It has nothing to do with DC, or AC systems empirically, but serves a purpose in both. They are bonded earth grounds (in both the AC and DC systems of all boats).
They are for safety reasons, but also help to stabilize the boat's galvanic system (galvanic cell) and keep those expensive aluminum bits from being consumed by those expensive cast iron bits and the pretty stainless steel bits.
OK I get it now. Is there a list of parts that should be connected? I've got all of my wiring stripped from my transom due to my transom replacement. I want to make sure I connect it all correctly. That was one of my weak links as some of the points had been clipped over the years.
Can anyone tell me where I might find the Common Ground Point on my boat? Would it be my engine block, or is there another connection? Hard to believe I studied to be an electrical engineer. :-)
On mine the common point is a bolt on the port transmission. Ground (Black) wire from the battery bank as well as the Bonding wire (Green) Are terminated at this bolt.The other end of the green wire is connected to a bar zinc via a bronze bolt
Most bayliners have a bonding wire to all metal items which are below the water line. I.E. trim tabs, swim platform supports, through hulls , etc etc.
Disclaimer: My experience is with salt water boats.
I recommend using a point on the engine as a common bonding point, use a different bolt for the neg battery ground than the bonding wire for the thru hulls, the engine block acts as an electrical sink for the 2 wires, I think that keeping the 2 wires seperate is prudent, it cannot hurt, the transmission location will work, but I always use the engine block, that is where the neg battery cable is usually installed on boats. I have bonded several boats for salt water use, they do not have any electrolysis issues, nor does mine.
Pat says: DO-IT-RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!
Bayliner 3870 "ALASKA33)
Twin 350 GM power
Located in Seward, AK
Retired marine surveyor
Thanks Richard. That helps a lot. My boat is also salt water and I remember seeing a connection before I removed the Gimbal Housing. At least I think I do.
boatworkfl wrote:
I recommend using a point on the engine as a common bonding point, use a different bolt for the neg battery ground than the bonding wire for the thru hulls, the engine block acts as an electrical sink for the 2 wires, I think that keeping the 2 wires seperate is prudent, it cannot hurt, the transmission location will work, but I always use the engine block, that is where the neg battery cable is usually installed on boats.
Most people install a buss bar somewhere on a bulkhead that's relatively easy to reach and run all the green bond wires to there and then one ground wire from there to the block. The DC electrical has a separate ground buss bar that provides a simple single place to ground all of your accessories. That reduces the opportunity for a loose ground to start running back through your zincs or other important parts of your boat. They are electrically at the same potential, but should be treated as two (three counting the AC Safety Ground) different circuits.
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