Too good of a ground?

[wskier1]

I have been having problems with my stereo and my boat starting. When the ground cable is tight, the boat will not start, but the radio works great and vice-versa. Thinking the problem was with the ground cable and connection, I replaced the ground cable and the boat will not start - the boat only starts with a loose connection on the battery terminal. Any ideas?

[WakeSlayer]

RE: Too good of a ground?

This makes zero sense. I am not any sort of an electrical expert, however, I do not believe there is such a thing as too good of a ground. Try a different battery, just to eliminate that as a cause. The stereo and starting are two completely different things and should have nothing to do with each other. Do you have a perko switch? How is the stereo wired in?

[Mikeski]

I can't think of a reason why it won't start either?

Grounds can be one of the most misunderstood concepts in electrical systems. You need to establish a single ground point, it can either be the motor or the negative battery post on the battery cable, not both. Even if these points are connected by a large battery cable there may still be a difference in voltage potential. It is unlikely but possible that you have a ground loop and that a high current device like your starter is seeking it's power or ground from somewhere besides your battery? In that case you could be starving your ignition or fuel system from the power it needs to function?

I believe Correct Craft establishes the ground point at the engine block and the +12v point at the positive battery terminal. As you add systems it would be best to utilize these points as your power and ground origins. Each system you add will either bring power to these points or take power away. Problems can occur when systems are piggybacked on each other, problems like overloading, breaker tripping, melting wires, stereo noise, or starved power (low voltage problems).

Try to understand these basics then consider "the power systems" on your boat.

[steve-o]

I think you need to trace all the cables realted to the systems you are having trouble with to verify they go where you think they do. It sounds like you have wires mismatched.