T&T: 120V green ground conductor

[Scott H.E. Welch]

chiropaul23 at yahoo.com writes:
>My question is about the green 120v ground wire.  Based on all I've read this
>should be connected to the ships 12v negative ground.  As I will be locating
>the new 120v panel adjacent to the current 12v panel, can this 120v green
>ground simply be connected to the negative terminal in the 12v panel or
>should
>a separate ground wire be run from the new panel to the 12v negative battery
>connection at the engine?

Paul,

This is an area that requires more than a casual knowledge of electricity. I
would highly recommend that you run over to Amazon and buy two books: Charlie
Wing's "Boatowner's Illustrated Electrical Handbook", and Nigel Calder's
"Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual". They cover in detail what you
need.

As for the ground, this is exactly what you need an isolator for. You should
use a 30 amp isolation transformer, and connect the ground on the output side
to the 12 volt ships (DC) ground. The incoming AC ground (green wire) goes to
the input of the transformer. It's critical that the incoming AC ground is
kept isolated from the ship's DC ground, especially on a wooden boat.

Scott Welch
FirstClass Product Manager
www.firstclass.com

"Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn
out." - John Wooden