Isn't that Perimeter Ground? Used to prevent static and surge damage.
Spegetti Menders must not understand E equals I times R. I am sure that is not the case but when reading this that is the conclusion most EE's would come up with.
A high resistance circuit does not blow fuses. It actually limits current. Take 10 volts to make the math easy. 10 divided by 10 ohms (9 ohms load or appliance plus 1 ohm for your copper feed and ground) That is 1 Amp. Now take 20 ohms. (9 ohms load or appliance and .5 ohms for your copper feed wire and 10.5 ohms in your old Mopar chassis) That's 1/2 Amp.
Spagetti menders knows copper grounds are better they just don't seem to state why correctly for every type of load or appliance. A bad ground does not blow switches and fuses necessarily. A light bulb will only light based on the voltage at the light bulb. An electric motor or anything with inductance on the other hand will act much differently. MIke brought up spagetti menders and they do have some really nice stuff but all auto electronic providers recommend good grounds for the same reason. I hope not to bore you guys to death with what follows that should help explain.
Without getting into mho or J factors and get everyone including myslef thoroughly confused a good ground is never a bad thing. If everything is done correctly a chassis ground works. Star washers, clean welds, and good steel. Sorry anyone who has ever tig welded on Mopars knows the metal is a little funky. So if you run good ground wires from engine to battery you are not wasting any weight or money. And to all your equipment especially including relays and the MSD.
Why would a bad ground burn up switches, fuses, and appliances? A bad ground is never just a bad ground. It comes and goes. So back to resistance in the circuit. When it comes and goes so does the current flow. Well some appliances are very demanding like a spinning fan. Start making and breaking the circuit like a bad kid with your light switch in your home and something is going to give. Your home has at least a 15 AMP breaker so the switch and bulb is usually first to go. On a car the trouble is much harder to find.
Industry leaders are just trying to save you a lot of trouble and recomend running grounds to elliminate these failed circuit possibilities and phone calls trying to find bad circuits in your car.
Race car wiring has come a long way. I know service trucks use the frame for a ground and there is always something malfunctioning and it is 90% of the time ground related. So I am not going to criticize anyone for running grounds on a race car. Just their reasoning. LOL
Leon
