Good Enough Ground Point For Inverter?

**we87** · 02-18-2008, 05:01 PM

My XOVision 750watt inverter died last month, but before that it worked perfectly with no problems, and no scan lines in my Lilliput monitor.

Recently, I bought a 1000watt Lenmar inverter. And after hooking it up, I now have scan lines in my Lilliput. Its like slow bars scrolling up the screen, if you can picture that.

I read the FAQ's and the tip was to change the refresh rate to 75hertz, which I did. But it didnt help very much. And this imo is irrelevant because it was working perfect before I changed inverters.

So, my guess is its a grounding issue. Thats why I posted a picture of the ground I have hooked up to my inverter here so you guys can see it, and I wanted your opinion if it is a good ground spot or not. I scuffed the bottom of the bolt to get a better connection, as you can see in the pictures.

I would think that would be a great ground point, but I guess I could be wrong?

Thanks alot for the help guys, I really do appreciate it...

**FusionFanatic** · 02-18-2008, 10:18 PM

in general, factory bolts make lousy ground points...

mainly, because the bolt and surfaces are coated or painted to prevent rust. you slightly scuffed up the paint on the seat bracket, but that may not be enough. you should sand/file it down to bare metal, and also use a stiff wire brush to scrape the coating off the bolt/stud and the bottom/inside of the nut so it actually makes good electrical contact with the termial connector.

the best option is to drill a new hole, sand/file the surface down to bare metal, and use a nice stainless steel bolt/nut to secure it.

**greatwhite** · 02-19-2008, 06:09 AM

#1 - Poor ground point. Using a dedicated bolt as mentioned best

#2 - Is that just wire shoved under a washer? Use a proper ring terminal.

#3 - Inverter= bad. Unless you spent an ungodly amount of money on your inverter, it's amodified sine wave inverter. While it will run most any ac powered piece of equipment, sensative elecronics (like a computer) don't like modified sine much. A dc-dc solution is much better. Since your screen is reacting funny and the only thing you chaanged was the inverter, I'm betting your video card doesn't like the "dirty" power supply........

Good luck

**we87** · 02-20-2008, 04:03 AM

Thanks for the input guys...

Factory bolt bad. Good to know. I thought I scuffed the metal pretty good myself, and I also did scuff the bottom of that bolt down a very fair amount. And no, it is not a washer you see in the picture, that is the entire bolt. However, if using a custom bolt/screw is better than I will try that next.

Also, I was using a GeForce Ti4200 video card, after taking it out and using the on-board graphics card the interference got ALOT better. Now it is barely noticeable. I still have a few things to try like different drivers to see if that fixes the noise in the screen...

And while I agree an inverter isnt the >best< solution, I dont have the budget to afford a DC-DC power supply big enough for my PC's load. I need minimum of 250watt. That is the only reason why I choose an inverter over a DC-DC power supply.

As for the inverter itself, I spent $100 bucks on it. So I'm not sure if it is a Pure Sine or not. If I had to guess, I would say no. What is the difference exactly? What does "Pure Sine" mean?

Thanks again for all of the information. I appreciate it.

**RedGTiVR6** · 02-20-2008, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by greatwhite

#1 - Poor ground point. Using a dedicated bolt as mentioned best

#2 - Is that just wire shoved under a washer? Use a proper ring terminal.

#3 - Inverter= bad. Unless you spent an ungodly amount of money on your inverter, it's amodified sine wave inverter. While it will run most any ac powered piece of equipment, sensative elecronics (like a computer) don't like modified sine much. A dc-dc solution is much better. Since your screen is reacting funny and the only thing you chaanged was the inverter, I'm betting your video card doesn't like the "dirty" power supply........

Good luck

I agree with ALL of this.

Use a better ground point:

There is no place to properly ground anything underneath the seat. Most people would try and use the seat bracket bolts. These are not good grounding points for a few reasons.
- Usually these bolts are covered in grease, grit, or grime, thus making the ground a bad ground.
- These same bolts are usually covered in paint, as is the threaded part that the bolt goes into.
- Those mounting points usually have carpet underneath them, meaning that the ground is not solid.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/faq-...ath-seats.html

Spend the $.02 and get a proper ring terminal and use it on your next ground point. Shoving bare wire under like that is just asking for trouble.