Pacific Yacht Systems Roton Industries
Contact Us
604.284.5171
Subscribe
Menu
  • Shop
    • Electrical Orientation
    • Electrical Audit

    Power

    • AC & DC Panel
    • Accessories
    • Alternator
    • Battery
    • Battery Combiner
    • Battery Isolator
    • Battery Monitor
    • Charger
    • DC to DC Converter
    • External Regulator
    • Galvanic Isolator
    • Inverter
    • Inverter/Charger
    • Isolation Transformer
    • Methanol Fuel Cell
    • Solar Controller
    • Solar Kit
    • Solar Panel

    Navigation

    • Accessories
    • AIS
    • Autopilot
    • Chartplotter/MFD
    • Depth Transducer
    • Instrument Packs
    • Instrument Display
    • NMEA 2000
    • Radar
    • Sensors
    • VHF Radio
    • Video Camera

    Communications & Entertainment

    • Accessories
    • Cell Booster
    • Satellite Data & Voice
    • Satellite TV
    • Sound System
    • WiFi Booster

    Comfort

    • Accessories
    • Heater
    • Water Maker
  • Consultation & Design
  • Installation & Service
  • Resources
    • Videos
    • Boating Tech Talk
    • Diagrams
    • Articles
    • Tech Talk
    • Hotwire
  • About
    • About PYS
    • Case Studies
    • Testimonials
    • Events
    • Women's Day
    • Media
    • Careers
    • Contact
  • Home
  • Shop
  • Consultation & Design
  • Installation & Service
  • Resources
    • Videos
    • Boating Tech Talk
    • Diagrams
    • Articles
    • Tech Talk
    • Hotwire
  • About
    • About PYS
    • Case Studies
    • Testimonials
    • Events
    • Women's Day
    • Media
    • Careers
    • Contact
  • HOME
  • ResourcesVideosCan You Explain the Different Types of…
Power
  • AC & DC Panel
  • Accessories
  • Alternator
  • Battery
  • Battery Combiner
  • Battery Isolator
  • Battery Monitor
  • Charger
  • DC to DC Converter
  • External Regulator
  • Galvanic Isolator
  • Inverter
  • Inverter/Charger
  • Isolation Transformer
  • Methanol Fuel Cell
  • Solar Controller
  • Solar Kit
  • Solar Panel
Navigation
  • Accessories
  • AIS
  • Autopilot
  • Chartplotter/MFD
  • Depth Transducer
  • Instrument Packs
  • Instrument Display
  • NMEA 2000
  • Radar
  • Sensors
  • VHF Radio
  • Video Camera
Communications
& Entertainment
  • Accessories
  • Cell Booster
  • Satellite Data & Voice
  • Satellite TV
  • Sound System
  • WiFi Booster
Comfort
  • Accessories
  • Heater
  • Water Maker

Actisense

Airmar

B&G

Balmar

Battle Born

Blue Sea Systems

Discover

EFOY

Emtrak

Espar

FCI

FLIR

Firefly

Furuno

Fusion

Garmin

Genasun

Gioco

ICOM

Intellian

KVH

Lowrance

Maddox

Maretron

Navico

Navionics

PYS

Promariner

Raymarine

Roton

SIMRAD

Seaview

Shakespeare

Sol-Go

Solara

Solbian

SunPower

Vesper

Victron

Wakespeed

Wave WIFI

Xantrex

Can You Explain the Different Types of Electrical Grounds on My Boat?

View Transcript
Hide Transcript

Transcript is auto-generated.

hi youtubers jeff cote here with another session on ask pys so we've got a question of a fellow boater who says jeff i've seen a huge amount of questions misinformation regarding the electrical part of my boat they confuse the neutral with the negative and with the grounding it would be great if you could explain who's who and when and cannot and when they cannot be linked together all right if you're not confused about grounds then you're probably not reading or listening because grounds are honestly one of the most confusing part about marine electrical systems it took me a long time to figure it out so grounds are multiple things there's a lot of grounds on our boat so let's start naming them there's ac grounds dc grounds rf grounds lightning grounds bonding grounds all those grounds are basically common meaning they're connected to one another and that's very important you cannot have different grounds that are floating okay so they need to be common and that's where the you the term common ground comes from so all these grounds have to be connected together to be at the same potential i.e common and so you're going to have an ac ground on your boat the dc ground which is pretty common on most of us right a lot of our boats have ac and dc and it's very essential when we do surveys these electrical audits on boats we're always looking making sure there's a ground tie between the dc ground and the ac ground of the boat same thing with the bonding a lot of boats have bonding systems all these through halls on the boat all these underwater metals they're all connected together but you've got to make sure that that bonding system is also common to the dc ground and the ac ground a neutral and this was one of the questions here a neutral is also tied to ground now it's not tied permanently it's always tied at the source of power so for instance when you're connected to shore power you're going to actually have the ground ac ground and the neutral are going to be tied together at the source of power at the transformer of the dock if you don't if you have a generator again same thing the neutral and the ac ground are tied together at the source of power because the ac grounding or the green wire needs to go back to the source and if you have an inverter your inverter and it's a marine inverter is actually going to do a ground tie between the ac neutral and the ac ground whenever your inverter is working so that's the concept on ac grounds and ac neutrals

when you look at these marine diagrams and we've got all these conceptual diagrams on our website they have an ideal boat certainly the american boat yacht console abyc has this sort of perfect boat this boat that i've yet to see or will ever see where all these grounds are going on this one common ground bar most of us don't have that and when i say most of us i mean like 99.999 of us do not have a common ground point what generally happens is the dc ground on our boat is the common and everything gets connected back to that and so a lot of boat builders will use the dc they'll ground that and they'll have all the other grounds connected back to this dc distribution so that's why it's confusing is because the theory is never really applied in reality the way that we would see it in the standards or in the schematics and that's what's so hard for all of us is we're trying to map what we're told should happen and what actually happens on a boat and we've got videos on grounds by the way i could do a video on grounds that could last two hours i bore most of you but it is very interesting because it's so freaking complicated thank you for watching this pys video if you've got further questions ask them down below or go on our website to fill one of the forms don't forget to subscribe and thanks for watching

Boating Tech Talk

Top Tips For Re-Wiring a Sailboat Mast

About PYS

Day Two at the Vancouver Boat Show with Jeff Cote

Boating Tech Talk

Should I Have an Inverter/Charger or a Separate Inverter and a Separate Charger on My Boat?

Boating Tech Talk

What Type of Battery Should I Use for My Thrusters?

Share This

Related Products

  • BLUE SEA 8043 Traditional Metal Panel - AC Main + 3 Positions, AC Voltmeter

    BLUE SEA 8043 Traditional Metal Panel - AC Main + 3 Positions, AC Voltmeter

    CAD $429.99

    USD $318.52

  • BLUE SEA 8110 Mini Clamp Multimeter - AC/DC

    BLUE SEA 8110 Mini Clamp Multimeter - AC/DC

    CAD $258.00

    USD $191.12

  • BLUE SEA 8077 AC Main 30A

    BLUE SEA 8077 AC Main 30A

    CAD $248.19

    USD $183.85

  • Victron Lithium-Iron-Phosphate Battery 12.8V/100Ah

    Victron Lithium-Iron-Phosphate Battery 12.8V/100Ah

    Call for Pricing
  • BLUE SEA 8100 ELCI Main 30A Double Pole

    BLUE SEA 8100 ELCI Main 30A Double Pole

    CAD $399.99

    USD $296.30

  • BLUE SEA 3116 SMS Surface Mount System Panel Enclosure - 120 AC/30A ELCI Main - 3 Blank Circuit Position

    BLUE SEA 3116 SMS Surface Mount System Panel Enclosure - 120 AC/30A ELCI Main - 3 Blank Circuit Position

    CAD $797.93

    USD $591.08

  • BLUE SEA 8068 DC 13 Position Panel

    BLUE SEA 8068 DC 13 Position Panel

    CAD $972.00

    USD $720.03

Related Content

Help me Troubleshoot my Galvanic Isolator?

Boating Tech Talk
Help me Troubleshoot my Galvanic Isolator?

Dock Talk with Jeff Cote and Nigel Calder - "All Things Solar" - Part 1 of 2

Videos
Dock Talk with Jeff Cote and Nigel Calder - "All Things Solar" - Part 1 of 2

How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - Methanol Fuel Cell - Episode 8

Videos
How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - Methanol Fuel Cell - Episode 8

Installing an Equipment Leakage Circuit Interrupter ELCI on Your Boat

Videos
Installing an Equipment Leakage Circuit Interrupter ELCI on Your Boat

How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - Wiring Essentials - Episode 8 of 12

Videos
How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - Wiring Essentials - Episode 8 of 12

Custom Trawler 41 - Detailed Electrical Design Package

Case Studies
Custom Trawler 41 - Detailed Electrical Design Package

The Dangers of Reverse Polarity on Your Boat

Videos
The Dangers of Reverse Polarity on Your Boat

PYS Electrical Audit Aboard S/Y Corra Jane: Engine Instrumentation

Videos
PYS Electrical Audit Aboard S/Y Corra Jane: Engine Instrumentation

Maretron Digital Switching - Part 1 of 3 - Unboxing and Product Review

Videos
Maretron Digital Switching - Part 1 of 3 - Unboxing and Product Review

How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - AC/DC Voltmeters - Episode 12

Videos
How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - AC/DC Voltmeters - Episode 12

Why Would the Reverse Polarity Light Be on When I Run the Generator on a Mooring Buoy?

Videos
Why Would the Reverse Polarity Light Be on When I Run the Generator on a Mooring Buoy?

How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - Troubleshooting Solar, Generators & Fuel Cells - Episode 12 of 12

Videos
How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - Troubleshooting Solar, Generators & Fuel Cells - Episode 12 of 12

How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - AC & DC Generator Troubleshooting - Episode 26

Videos
How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - AC & DC Generator Troubleshooting - Episode 26

DC Only Boat To Cruise Around The World?

Videos
DC Only Boat To Cruise Around The World?

Bayliner 3288 - PYS Electrical System Refit Project

Videos
Bayliner 3288 - PYS Electrical System Refit Project

Where Is the Best Place to Install an Inverter On my Boat?

Videos
Where Is the Best Place to Install an Inverter On my Boat?

Boat Watermakers 101

Videos
Boat Watermakers 101

I Am Installing an Inverter/Charger on My Boat, Why Do I Have to Install a Switch on the DC Side?

Videos
I Am Installing an Inverter/Charger on My Boat, Why Do I Have to Install a Switch on the DC Side?

How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - Fuses & Cricuit Breakers - Episode 17

Videos
How To: Marine Electrical Seminar - Fuses & Cricuit Breakers - Episode 17

How Do I Know if My Bow Thruster Is Getting Charged?

Videos
How Do I Know if My Bow Thruster Is Getting Charged?


Pacific Yacht Systems

Copyright © 2023 Pacific Yacht Systems.

Contact Us
604.284.5171

We serve the Lower Mainland
and Southern Vancouver Island.

  • Subscribe

Subscribe

PYS Partners  |  Privacy Policy