Newbie Inverter Wiring Question

**arebelspy** · 10-05-2005, 09:50 PM

Hey guys,
I've got a quick question about wiring a 600W Pure Sine Wave Inverter that I’d like to get right to avoid any electrical problems.

I plan on setting up the inverter in my trunk and running a power wire back to it (with a fuse up towards the battery) – connecting this to the red (+) line on the inverter.

Do I need to run a separate line back up to the battery to connect the black line to my (-) part of my battery? Can I just use a ground wire to attach it to the chassis of my car? (I have a ’99 Ford Mustang, if that’s important – I don’t think it’s a positive ground system).

If I can, do I also need to ground the little screw labeled “chassis ground” to my car’s frame as well or is the black line enough?

Please see attached pics for pics of the back of inverter (red line, black line, and chassis ground screw) as well as instructions - particularly D opraions, and E1 regarding the negative ground.

Thanks!

-arebelspy

**arebelspy** · 10-06-2005, 02:39 PM

Got an answer from their customer service:
"You can ground the negative side to the frame if you want.
The chassis ground is optional, but can eliminate some electrical interference if it is connected to the frame, but
choosing the right place on the frame to ground it to is the art to getting interference down."

..so you guys think I should ground bth or one or will it make a difference or what?

-arebelspy

**evandude** · 10-06-2005, 02:58 PM

well since you got a pure sine wave inverter, it sounds like you are very concerned with avoiding noise, so it might be worth your while to do both. no matter what, you should certainly ground it to the frame, but running a separate ground cable as well might provide SOME improvement. alternately, you could probably gain some amount of improvement by piggybacking another ground cable from the battery to the chassis just in the engine bay. considering how cheaply you can get the wiring (like those amp wiring kits at walmart that are less than 20 bucks), as long as you don't mind spending the time installing it, it is probably worth it just to get it done and never have to worry about it again.

**arebelspy** · 10-06-2005, 03:26 PM

Thanks for the reply.

I think I'm gonna try to groun the black (-) to the frame of the car and ignore the "chasss ground" screw for now. If there is noise then I'll run the (-) ground up to the battery and ground the screw to se if that helps eliminate some of it.

-arebelspy