What truely defines a 'ground'?

[Ian400ex]

I would like to know what (IN ATV TERMS!) defines a ground. I understand what a ground is but how do you do it on a quad. On an ATV do you need to remove any paint or is it as simple as zip-tying the wires to the metal bar?

Also, what is the positive accessory wire; the wire connecting to the positive terminal?

[CJM]

A ground completes a circuit in the 12v wiring world.

It must be securely attached to a piece of UNPAINTED/Coated metal for it to work properly. I hooked my spal fan up and its grounded to the frame on a bolt. I undid the bolt, took some 60grit sandpaper and cleaned off the paint and put it back together and its good.

[Ian400ex]

So for my grip heaters, could I sand off paint right at the handle bars or should it be else where?

[CJM]

Originally posted by Ian400ex
So for my grip heaters, could I sand off paint right at the handle bars or should it be else where?

I dont think the handlebars would be a good place to ground it. I would try to ground it somewhere on the frame. If you cant find a suitable bolt that will work you can always put the negative straight to the battery to drill a hole and clean off the metal (perhaps near the steering stem/oil cooler there is an open spot) and put a sheetmetal screw in there.

As for hoking them up I think "positive accessory wire" means a wire thats hot (aka live) when the ignition is turn on. You need to find a sufficient power source for the grip heaters im assuming, so tapping into the ignition switch might work.

I personally would be running stuff to the battery. I like it this way as there is no confusion about what to wire to what, where the wires go and you can have whatever it is come on at anytime key on or not.

[Ian400ex]

Originally posted by CJM
I dont think the handlebars would be a good place to ground it. I would try to ground it somewhere on the frame. If you cant find a suitable bolt that will work you can always put the negative straight to the battery to drill a hole and clean off the metal (perhaps near the steering stem/oil cooler there is an open spot) and put a sheetmetal screw in there.

As for hoking them up I think "positive accessory wire" means a wire thats hot (aka live) when the ignition is turn on. You need to find a sufficient power source for the grip heaters im assuming, so tapping into the ignition switch might work.

I personally would be running stuff to the battery. I like it this way as there is no confusion about what to wire to what, where the wires go and you can have whatever it is come on at anytime key on or not.
How do I know which wire of out the several is the one I want to cut (i.e. there are several wires for each thing running to the wiring section)?

[Ian400ex]

anyone?

[CJM]

Only real way to tell is a test light. Your gonna have to take it, hook your testlight to a good ground like a bolt or nut or something (battery is best) and poke the wire you think you want. It lights up your good to go and its a hot wire.

[Ian400ex]

Originally posted by CJM
Only real way to tell is a test light. Your gonna have to take it, hook your testlight to a good ground like a bolt or nut or something (battery is best) and poke the wire you think you want. It lights up your good to go and its a hot wire.
Alright, thank you!

[CJM]

No problem at all..

See being a mechanic comes in handy lol.

[Ian400ex]

Originally posted by CJM
No problem at all..

See being a mechanic comes in handy lol.
I'm all for wrenching, but when it comes to electronics I'm done. :p

[CJM]

Originally posted by Ian400ex
I'm all for wrenching, but when it comes to electronics I'm done. :p

Its not as hard as you think.

[tri5ron]

couple of suggestions here,just my .02 cents.
You can consider it, or not,... I'm not suggesting it is the only way.
so with that said,...

CJM has given you some good advise. Especially about grounding back to the frame or all the way to the battery. (not to the handlebars themselfs).

The handlebars or steering stem is not a good place to grond, because too many moving parts,.. i.e.- bars, stem, bushings, bearings, etc.

Personally, if I was considering grip heaters, I would run a completely isolated circut, with a switch, and a in-line fuse, and small indicator led light, directly to the battery. I would do this for a couple of reasons.

First, I would want to insure that if for ANY reason, the heated grips were to fail, short out, overheat, overdraw, or any other imagineable issue,...
I would not want them wired into any other electrical circut, that is necessary for the quad to continue functioning/running.

Secondly, I COULD pull the inline fuse, (if necessary), to guarntee the circut was open, (off), and not drawing any watts.
(even if my switch failed).

I would have a small led indicator light on the dash to "dummy-proof" it from myself.
(yes, I am sometimes a forgetful fool, and need to protect myself,... FROM myself, LOL).
This way, I would KNOW,... that if the little light was ON,....the grips ARE drawing juice from the battery.
If the light is OFF, the grips CAN NOT kill the battery,
(because I forgot to turn them off).

I also feel it would be WISE, to determine the amp draw of the grips, BEFORE I installed them, to determine if the stator was going to be taxed too heavily, with the headlights running.

It's not a good idea to have your stator running at max. output, just to keep any accessories powered up.
You NEED to have some "Reserve" capacity on your stator output, to KEEP the battery charged up.

If you find that the combined powr draw of the headlights and grips, are near the capacity of the stock stator,...
then it might be wise to consider getting a higher output stator first.
They are readily available.

The LAST thing you want to have happen, is to be 10 miles out in the snow/cold weather, and kill the battery, and not be able to start the engine.
and ANOTHER thing to remember, is that the colder the battery gets, the LESS CCA's it can provide/deliver.

Anyway, ... I'm NOT saying, you should not do it,....
What I AM saying is,..
If you DO do it, then make sure you do it right,
and not create a cold and uncomfortable problem for yourself.

so there ya' go, it's just my opinion,
and certainly is not the ONLY way to do them.

good luck, and do your homework first.

[CJM]

You musta read my mind Ron, hepm'd me about it and I pretty much stated the same things.

Personally speaking I dont like tapping wires at all, first off the wire taps are cheesy plastic and second they can have corrosion issues too. That and you may ruin something else if it shorts.

[Ian400ex]

I have everything hooked up and they work just fine, as both of you had said I should do earlier, I grounded right onto the frame. Also I will consider a new stator whether I need it or not.

Until then I will try not to run the piss out of my battery. :)

Thanks guys, I may have pictures up later.

[Ian400ex]

Oh and I had a friend come over and extend my wire so I just ran to the battery.

If you were wondering ^

[Ian400ex]

http://img703.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=1001619.jpg