There's no "grounds" in a 12V system. Call it DC Negative. That's an AC term for the non current carrying emergency current path conductor to earth ground. Nothing is getting "Grounded" in DC a loop is being completed... pos and neg are equally important. Attaching one negative thing to another is called "bonding". I run a neg 10 guage wire from my start solenoid mounting screw to the the DC neg on the battery to ensure that the 'noid is getting neg current. the cars' body in unreliable for carrying dependable neg current. Same for the alternator and alternator regulator! Run neg cables! People commonly dismiss 12 V negative in diagnosis because they think of it erroneously as "ground" ... -my manifesto... lol
While what you say is technically correct, you'll have a hard time convincing the entire automotive world to say DC negative instead of ground. In this case ground is a relative term and has been used since batteries were introduced to the automobile.
I didn't know the entire world was listening. Well thats why guys chase and replace entire electrical systems..; only to find the negative wire connection is at fault. A basic misunderstanding of DC electricity. In this case?? What case?? Relative term?? No it isn't. Relative to what? Entire Automotive World??? lol of amateurs maybe. Electricians know better. But hey some might get it and learn to think more clearly..and solve electrical faults quicker. Calling it ground is just plain ignorant. And if you learned from an ignoramous, then it self perpetuates.
lol I could just see that thing turning over for ever until the battery ran completely dead. I had the same problem many a times with the old trucks (piles) Ive had smack the cylinoid and it should stop. I used to keep a screw driver in the truck at all times just for that reason. glad nothing got messed up on your car.
If it is not called a ground (which it is by 99.99999% of mechanics in the world) - then why does the factory wiring charts use the universally recognized drafting symbol for "ground" in all the wiring charts of every car manufacturer? http://www.maverickcomet.com/Wiring/MavWiring/1970/1970MavMain.pdf Seriously, I've heard and used the term bonding, as in bonding strap for the grounding strap, but really ..???????? .... you can't call somebody ignorant for using the same word that 99.99999% of the world uses to describe something. That would be like going outside on a nice day and proclaiming how wonderful the "star of spectral class G2 and luminosity class V" is, while the rest of us just say how nice the sunshine is today .........
you show this to any mechanic and they will call it a ground.....it is used and referred as ground in every single modern automotive wiring diagram that I have seen.
Even prior, the magnetos & coils in the teens & twenties vehicles also required a ground... Hang it out in mid air with no negative return & there will be no spark...
Oh yes there will! That " negative return " will be through you!!! Done that one before! Just to throw a wrench into the gears, remember when some vehicles had + ground? And yes, it was called " ground "!
Yeah no doubt... Assuming you were standing on the ground when zapped, you'd have been a earth potential facilitator... Most of the 6v systems were positive ground or if a European vehicle, positive earth...
Oh, and I got this off the internet so it must be true. In electrical engineering, ground or earth can refer to the reference point in an electrical circuit from which other voltages are measured, or a common return path for electric current, or a direct physical connection to the Earth. So it is a relative term. Class dismissed.
