Hello,
Ground loops do exist. Your battery post negatve ground is your best common ground. Ideal ground wiring would be to run a wire with the right gauge, back to the battery post from every electrical component, same as they do the positive side. This would eliminate any ground potential or change in true ground, which is your battery negatve post. The ground loop problem exist because when you ground wires at different points on a steel frame or body, your using the frame or body as a wire and they have different thicknesses so one point may be true ground and another point may be 80% ground or not the same ground potenial. Ground loops created by improperly designed or improperly installed equipment are a major cause of noise and interference in audio and video systems. The cleanest sounding auto sound system I ever heard was the one I installed in my old 1954 chevy panel,the problem was it had a 6 volt system and I wanted to install a 12 volt 100 watt power amp and a AM/FM cassette. I wanted to keep the original 6 volt system, so I fabricated a bracket on the side of the engine, mounted a 12 volt alternator with a built-in regulator lined-up the pulleys,ran one belt around the 6 volt generator, water pump, crankshaft and 12 volt alternator. Fabricated a 12 volt battery mount on the fender skirt, grounded the 12 volt battery to the frame, ran a cable from the alternator to the positive side of the 12 volt battery, ran all sound system power directly to the 12 volt battery positve and negative post. The sound system had ZERO 12 volt alternator and 6 volt generator noise and interference,even on AM stations.
It was a hybrid 6/12 volt system sharing the same ground. The thing that was nice, with engine off, I could run the sound system until the 12 volt battery was dead, then just hop in the truck and start it up with the 6 volt battery and a lot easier than a 6 to 12 volt conversion.
Your starter could careless about ground loops all it wants is voltage and the best way to give it voltage is to give it big pipes I mean big fat cables POSITVE AND NEGATVE, this is more important with a 6 volt starter which has a high cranking amperage.
Thanks
jorb
Last edited by jorb; 09/01/2011 4:42 AM.
