ground wire

[Greg1410]

I am doing some re-wiring in my 73 Safari. Interior skins are all off. I trying to get up to speed on the electrical side of things. On the 12V side, I notice how it seems all the grounds are connected together (see pic) in the ceiling so just one or two larger white grounds going back to the box. As I am rewiring, I was planning on running one ground wire for each circuit back to the bus bar. Is there an advantage one way or the other to bring the grounds for each circuit to connect to the bus, or connect them all together (as they are now) in the ceiling to a larger one then attaching to the bus?

If I have one ground for each circuit, I am assuming I can keep the same wire size (14 gauge for lights, for example). If I combine them together, I would obviously have to go up in wire size based on the amps.

Any hints would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Greg

[J. Morgan]

There are only two disadvantages I can see with running grounds "home run", you will use a lot more wire, and your wire bundle will be near twice the size.

An advantage to home run grounds is that there will be no chance of a weak or broken connection between the skins where there is no access to repair.

Home runs would be the better option, however, I have to wonder whether it is worth the extra time and expense. If you do not daisy chain at all, you are going to have A LOT of ground wires.


Gradiens super tenui glacie.

[Al Boondy]

They did that to save money, to use parts of the harness in different models, to ad options etc.
I'd run the grounds individually to bus strip if practical.
They did the same thing with some of the positive wires in my '73.

[J. Morgan]

Oh, fwiw, if you are rewiring all of your 12 volt, or even a part of it, I do not recommend using parts store wiring with vinyl insulation, use a good quality wire with cross-link insulation.

The insulation is much more durable, and it is much less likely to catch fire in the case of a short circuit.

http://m.delcity.net/store/Cross!Link-Wire/p_804928


Gradiens super tenui glacie.

[Greg1410]

Thanks for the tip on the wire. A 100 foot roll with the thicker insulation is even less expensive than wire at home depot.
Greg

[Burnside Bob]

FWIW, the grounds in my 2009 were done the same way as your 1973 except that the splices were soldered, not crimped as is shown in your photo. The soldered connections were wrapped with vinyl electrician's tape.

Every 12V device in my trailer had its own ground soldered in to the main ground cables, and all grounds wires were 10 gauge, including the grounds to the LED running lights that pull less than 1/2 amp. A little overkill but it works. Chassis grounding was not used on anything.

IMOP both J. Morgan and Al Boondy are right about 'home running' and use of pre-wired wiring harnesses. I found a number of pre-wired 12V access points in my trailer, presumably for 12V options it didn't have.