Ground Loops

[derf85]

Hi All,

I'm new here... first post, but already got a A LOT of help from these forums - they're freakin awesome. Apologies for starting a new thread - i've googled the hell out of this topic already to no avail....

I'm after some electrical advice regarding ground loops.

Does anyone have experience with them causing noise? General consensus with 12v wiring is that they should be avoided, but in practicality, low load 12v systems i find hard to believe causing issues.

I guess the follow on question is where is a good place to earth under the dash if a ground loop should indeed be avoided?

Cheers!

[TOYZX]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I've always been told that in this newer stuff ya should always ground accessories to the chassis or body. Under the dash I usually go down behind the kick panels, there is usually a good earth to be found there.

[derf85]

Thanks TOYZX, i'll give that a crack.

[davbar65]

As far as I know the reason for grounding to the chassis not the battery negative post is due to some modern vehicles having a shunt on the negative battery cable in order to measure the electrical load on the battery and vary the alternator output according to demand. By connecting to the negative terminal, ie before the shunt, the computer does not see the extra load of the accessory so may not ramp up the alternator to keep the battery fully charged. I'm not aware of this being the case with any Hilux charging system.