eletrical grounding.

anyone try the apexi super ground kit? supposed to make your battery run at 14 volts and give all electrical components a lil boost and even your motor a lil more power. Just wanted to see if it is worth the $200 and if i do get it where to put the grounding point. Thanks.

The battery voltage is determined by the number of cells in the battery, not the connections. 6 cells @ 2v/cell gives 12 volts. Charging requires a slightly higher voltage so the alternator output is > battery voltage, and is usually up to 14 volts.

 

Unless you're having issues a grounding kit is worthless.

+1, it's not going to do anything for you unless you're running some really heavy load electronics. IE a bunch of amps or something.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

ya thats what ive been hearing that it is kind of a joke. but i do have some electrical components such as lights and sub and amp and the lights will dim a lil when bass hits. Should i try one anyway? Not a $200 one but i heard you can get cheap ones that do pretty much the same thing for a lot cheaper.

It's called standard heavy gauge wire. Replace the factory grounds and clean the contacts. Unless your factory grounds are totally corroded and/or missing it won't make a difference.

oh alright. Thanks for the info

Sorry to rehash this...

 

I know that grounding kits have been debated in the past, but I'm always curious about this.

 

Some say they gained 6rwhp on a 350Z (that was a couple of years ago).

 

The priniciple is interesting, reality could be different tho.

 

In our case, with an electronic throttle, I'd be curious. Has anyone actually dynoed a car before/after?

If the alternator is good, battery is good, grounds aren't rusty, and the voltage regulator is good there won't be a difference. The reason the subs dim the lights is because the alternator is being strained. The Amp powering the sub should have it's own positive lead off the battery, and it's own ground to the chassis. If you suspect the stock ground isn't sufficient enough to power the amplifier, run another wire from the ground on the amp straight to the negative terminal on the battery.

Some say they gained 6rwhp on a 350Z (that was a couple of years ago).

And the gigantic wing on their roof must have added 50hp too...

Upgrading the "big 3" grounds is not a bad idea if you are running a lot of additional high load electronics (i.e. subs, "off road" lights for you OB guys, etc). But spending $200 for a "kit" is just nuts. $20 at your local parts store is all you need. 1 large ground from the battery to the chassis, 1 large ground from the engine to the battery, and one large ground from the alt to the battery (or chassis). That's all you really need. If you are running a lot of junk off of the factory fuse panel (high wattage headlights, fog lights, interior lighting, etc) might also run a larger power wire from the battery to the underhood fuse block.

Upgrading the "big 3" grounds is not a bad idea if you are running a lot of additional high load electronics (i.e. subs, "off road" lights for you OB guys, etc). But spending $200 for a "kit" is just nuts. $20 at your local parts store is all you need. 1 large ground from the battery to the chassis, 1 large ground from the engine to the battery, and one large ground from the alt to the battery (or chassis). That's all you really need. If you are running a lot of junk off of the factory fuse panel (high wattage headlights, fog lights, interior lighting, etc) might also run a larger power wire from the battery to the underhood fuse block.

 

Umm, do you mean a positive from the alternator to the battery? Other than that I agree with this post completely, but I don't think he should attach the large wire on his alternator to ground on the battery...

I didn't mean that he should ground the charge wire on the alternator, that would be stupid

 

The high amperage portion of the alternator grounds through its case (just like the starter) so adding a large ground wire near the alternator is not a bad idea (just like the starter) Adding a larger alternator charge wire wouldn't be a bad idea either.

I didn't mean that he should ground the charge wire on the alternator, that would be stupid

 

The high amperage portion of the alternator grounds through its case (just like the starter) so adding a large ground wire near the alternator is not a bad idea (just like the starter) Adding a larger alternator charge wire wouldn't be a bad idea either.

 

True. I thought you meant the charge wire but said ground by accident.

 

So you're saying to run an auxiliary ground from the chassis to one of the bolts holding the alternator on. Gotcha...

 

When I had my Cummins diesel (Single battery) the wires coming off the battery were as big as your thumb. Not sure what guage, but they were nice and fat. I had a 1,300 amp battery in that beast. That thing was sweet...

Yeah, running the additional ground to the alternator is probably overkill on a car like ours where the alternator puts out like....80A or something like that lol. But on a newer car where the alt puts out like 160 or more (new Ford Police Interceptors run 200A alternators!) an additional ground wire would be good. I guess the audiophiles out there suggest running the additional ground to the alt because it helps reduce ground loop problems that cause alt noise in the stereo.

 

And diesels are a whole different story lol. When you have glow plugs drawing 100A total and a starter that draws a continuous 500A with a peak of about 800A when you first crank it over cold, you kind of need to have a beefy electrical system.

Yeah, running the additional ground to the alternator is probably overkill on a car like ours where the alternator puts out like....80A or something like that lol. But on a newer car where the alt puts out like 160 or more (new Ford Police Interceptors run 200A alternators!) an additional ground wire would be good. I guess the audiophiles out there suggest running the additional ground to the alt because it helps reduce ground loop problems that cause alt noise in the stereo.

 

And diesels are a whole different story lol. When you have glow plugs drawing 100A total and a starter that draws a continuous 500A with a peak of about 800A when you first crank it over cold, you kind of need to have a beefy electrical system.

 

Exactly... My Cummins didn't have glow plugs (Most Cummins B6 engines don't have glow plugs), it had a heater in the intake manifold to heat the incoming air. When you put the key in and the little "Wait To Start" light on the dashboard came on, if that battery wasn't in primo shape you weren't going anywhere.

That is true, a lot of newer diesels (and some older ones) have the intake heaters versus glow plugs. Still, you are powering a high amperage heater grid as well as spinning over an engine that (depending on how old and how much boost it runs) is probably pushing somewhere between 18:1 and 25:1 compression ratio. Anyway, we've gone off topic here. Grounding kits = for looks only. Waste of money, you can do the same thing for 15% of the cost of most kits.

Right now I'm actually having a pretty bad voltage drop at idle, down to 12v, sometimes less if I have bright lights on. So I might try adding a bigger ground. But it won't be more than some spare heavy guage wire I have laying around. Maybe it won't look pretty, but it will do the exact same thing for a fraction of the price.

^^^ I like the way you think...

 

Alternator perhaps?

^^^ I like the way you think...

 

Alternator perhaps?

'tis what I fear... But heck, if an extra ground made out of old crap I have laying around fixes it I have just saved some money at the junk yard

I hope it works out for you. If you already have the stuff to do it then you literally have nothing to lose.

there have been situations on older cars that adding additional grounds on things like injector circuits, ignition coils, and other electrical components can increase the parts efficiency and add some power. but this can be done with a length of wire and terminal ends. the last good write up i saw they spent somewhere around 10 bucks and picked up 5 hp on a mid 90's Honda. if i get some timei would like to take a wiring diagram and do something simiar to my 95' Legacy

there have been situations on older cars that adding additional grounds on things like injector circuits, ignition coils, and other electrical components can increase the parts efficiency and add some power. but this can be done with a length of wire and terminal ends. the last good write up i saw they spent somewhere around 10 bucks and picked up 5 hp on a mid 90's Honda. if i get some timei would like to take a wiring diagram and do something simiar to my 95' Legacy

Nice. If you end up doing it, you should do a photo "how-to" and list all the grounded locations. Also, do you intend on getting a before and after dyno or anything to see if you picked up any extra power?