July 2006 - montgomery_boats - mailman.xmission.com

Re: M_Boats: wiring...ground
by Carlos Albar-Diaz 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

Bobbie, The term ground is used to mean two things 1) In a car's DC system "ground" means the path to get to one of the battery poles (usually negative) through the body of the car. This ground does not need to be connected to the earth; in fact it will only be connected if you have one of those conductive " tails" that links the body of the car/truck to the surface of the road. This type of ground carries current all the time and is connected to one terminal of each light bulb, motor, etc.. In a nutshell, ths type of ground is to save you from reducing by one the number of wires that go to each place in the car. 2) In a house's AC system there is a ground/earth wire that is not connected to any of the two terminals of a given light bulb; it is connected to the body/chassis of all appliances, motors, etc, and some metal pipes but not to the terminals that carry current into them. This sort of " ground" will only carry current if there is a leak between one of the two AC wires and anything connected to the ground system. In a nutshell, this type of ground is to save you from electrical shock if one fo the two AC wires touches the body of your washing machine and you touch the washing machine. Cars normally do not have a #2 ground system, ie connection to earth. Given that a car only has 12 volts the only reason for that would be to get protection from sparks arising form static electricity (eg when you get the gas fillup nozzle close to the car fill-up hole, or to save you from having your hair look funny when driving in a hot dry day). In some places with very dry climates folks hang form their cars a metalic piece that touches the ground from time to time an din teh process brings the "potential" (voltage) of the car body in line with the earth. Big boats tend to have a type 2 ground system, which is usually called bonding, for both the same reason as in a house plus but also to protect from stary currents. This is very difficult to understand (at least to me) because tehre are a couple of different ways to get teh same result, and different countries tend to do things differently... I hope this helps. Carlos On 7/6/06, Bobbie Mayer <barbaram(a)csufresno.edu> wrote: > > That's what we would need- a wire from the grounding wire to the > wooden bar. At this point I've temporarily given up and will use > hand signals for the couple of miles we need to drive in the > daylight. Then tomorrow we'll look for a piece of wire to splice in. > > However, I don't get it- cars aren't really grounded; how do they > work as a ground? Is it just that the size of the car and trailer > combined is enough? I never really thought about that before. > > Bobbie > > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats > >

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wiring...ground
by Bobbie Mayer 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

That's what we would need- a wire from the grounding wire to the wooden bar. At this point I've temporarily given up and will use hand signals for the couple of miles we need to drive in the daylight. Then tomorrow we'll look for a piece of wire to splice in. However, I don't get it- cars aren't really grounded; how do they work as a ground? Is it just that the size of the car and trailer combined is enough? I never really thought about that before. Bobbie

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Re: M_Boats: An invention I need to find...
by chbenneck＠juno.com 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

Hi Bobby, The usual routine for trailer wiring and lights is to use the frame of the trailer as the white wire return path. If you look at your wiring, at the trailer tongue end, you will find a white wire that is attached to the frame - somewhere, probably using a screw. At the back end of the trailer, the trailer lights are grounded to the trailer frame with the mounting screws through the metal mounting brackets. The trailer frame is then the extension of the white wire back to each light If you want to put your trailer lights on a wooden bar and hang that on the back of the boat to keep the lights out of the water, then you will have to splice a wire to the coupler end white wire, run it back to the bar where you have mounted your lights, and then make a connection between that wire and each light bracket, so that each light will have a ground return circuit. With that wire in place, your lights should work just fine. Connie

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An invention I need to find...
by Bobbie Mayer 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

Here's a link to the lights that aren't submersible. http://www.rvtoyoutlet.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=RV&Produ… If I had guides on the trailer I could mount the lights on those (but I don't, and they'd need to be metal for the magnets.) I guess they could go on the trailer and I could remove them every time I backed it into the water but odds are I'd forget pretty soon and ruin expensive lights. Bobbie

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An invention I need to find...
by Bobbie Mayer 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

My dad had a bar like that- we wired it up and it didn't work, either! I may make a new one since it looks like I need new wires and lights. We couldn't figure out how he grounded his, though- he had a white wire attaching the two lights together rather than running to the ground. Bobbie

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An invention I need to find...
by Bobbie Mayer 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

Wireless trailer lights. Sealed trailer lights (batteries in a watertight compartment or maybe solar) and controlled wirelessly from a device that plugs into the car's wiring. No need for wiring harnesses or connectors that can break or get corroded. Bobbie

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invention exists, not submersible...
by Bobbie Mayer 06 Jul '06

06 Jul '06

Darn.

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RE: M_Boats: New boat name
by Tom Smith 05 Jul '06

05 Jul '06

Don't do this. t Tom Smith Next IT 509-242-0767 ext. 1035 -----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces+tsmith=nextit.com(a)mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-bounces+tsmith=nextit.com@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Larry E Yake Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 5:26 PM To: montgomery_boats(a)mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: New boat name After 6 years of refinishing, rebuilding, and/or replacing everything but her name, and after getting tired of repeating, spelling, and explaining the name Tullamore (which in Irish literally means Big Hill <?>), I have decided that the yellow M17 #200 needs a new, easy to remember, name. Radio transmissions to ports and marinas are usually answered with silence and then "Um... OK, uh...Skipper". So....after due ceremony and ritual observations, she will be renamed CornDog. Yes, I know, I risk the wrath of the sea and my wife, but it was time. If that name can't be understood or remembered I'll give up and everyone can continue to refer to her as "that yellow one". Larry Yake M17 #200 CornDog "In a power boat you get there faster. In a sailboat you're already there." _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats

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boat light question
by Bobbie Mayer 05 Jul '06

05 Jul '06

Pin is in; hope it holds. (It should as there is no real stress on it and I won't be doing miles of driving anymore.) Trailer lights are out. One is really weird- the bulb was fogged sort of an off-white. Replaced it and the new one fogged the same way immediately. What's wrong here? Turn signal and brake lights are the ones not working; power gets to the wiring harness but not to the bulbs; we're going to go ahead and replace the lights I think as they are quite old. Bobbie

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Centerboard question M15
by Bobbie Mayer 05 Jul '06

05 Jul '06

I'm pretty sure it was coming out the port side. Bobbie

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