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Inverter 12dc to 240ac grounding

sebski

Member
"Hi guys,
I have spend few da


"Hi guys,
I have spend few days searching over internet way how to do it in right way, found few sites , but all the sites saying that inverter supposed to be grounded to earth wire on boat... good, but where is going earth wire? to the water? to negative DC system? to clarify how I have prepared:

Negative side of engine start battery and battery for 12v boat devices , negative bus, engine, sterdrives, metal tanks and metal thing outside the boat - are connected together.

Separate battery for inverter which is not connected to any instalation on boat is connected straight to inverter.
Inverter has got built-in socket where I can plug any 240v device.
Inverter on chasis has got connection where I can connect wire to ground it. My question: where attach this wire? Without this for example when I connect any 240v device and I touch inverter chasis or metal case of microwave or anything , it KICKS...

Would be great if any of you could give me some idea or advice.
Thanks,
Sebastian"
 
"If you currently have an AC s

"If you currently have an AC system on the boat, the ground will go to the ground in that system. If you do not have an AC system currently installed, you should ground it to the boat's bonding system. If you do not have a bonding system, well you need one.

Note: If things are connected correctly you should not get a KICK from the unit or the appliance. If you do, connecting the ground wire will only transfer that current to the boat and will rapidly promote galvanic corrosion."
 
"Rick, I dont have 240 on boat

"Rick, I dont have 240 on boat.

What do you mean boat's bonding system?
uhm, unforunatelly English is not my first language, and all the "bonding, grounding, earthing" - cant really recognise which one is which... or is it the same?

Connecting to the bonding system will do the same job if I would connect to negative side of battery? but then I read that I shouldnt connect for any reason ground from AC to negative DC...

uhm, I am very confused...

You saying that if everything is connected correctly I shouldnt get KICK from devices, not too much can be wrong with connection, PLUS and MINUS to the battery, and electric socket build-in on inverter, connected kettle and when I touch - KICK
... maybe inverter is faulty."
 
"What do you mean boat's b

"What do you mean boat's bonding system?
uhm, unforunatelly English is not my first language, and all the "bonding, grounding, earthing" - cant really recognise which one is which... or is it the same?

They are different terms for the same system.

The bonding system should link all of the components and underwater hardware and tie them into a zinc or grounding bar which is in contact with the water.

I would contact the inverter manufacturer and ask why you are getting a shock from the device and ask how to remedy it."
 
All of the DC negative and the

All of the DC negative and the A/C ground (a green wire) should be to the boats bonding (ground) system. The engine is a good place for a common ground for everything. The inverter battery negative should also go to this ground. All bond wires from the gas tanks and the zink plates on the hull should also go to this ground. That makes everything on the boat to have the same ground potential.

You do not want multiple grounds with different voltages between grounds. It will cause electronics to fail and galvanic reactions with metals on the hull in the water.

If your grounding is correct you should not get any kick from appliances that use the inverter. You may want to get a GFI (Ground Fault Interrupt) recepticle to run everything through if the inverter does not have one. This will protect you from electrical current from the inverter to ground through you.
 
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