Grounding strip light

[matt c]

Just wondering I'm wiring some led strip light across the head board should I ground them to battery or to the chassis. The easiest would be to ground it to the tray but I'm not sure if aluminium is a good ground though

 

[sparra04]

best way= ground to battery, but your current draw is minimal with led's ,so it's really not an issue
chassis grounding would be ok, it should also be ok on your tray as aluminium conducts elec better than copper(as long as tray has good ground with chassis)
summary
doesn't really matter where you earth as long as the led's work

 

[matt c]

How do you no if the tray grounded good to the chassis

 

[sparra04]

you could use a multi meter or a test light
the tray should be grounded well enough to run led strip lights
does it say on the lights anywhere what the current draw is?

 

[matt c]

It says 0.4A which I assume is amps that's all that's there

 

[Old.Tony]

Ground it to the tray, then run a ground wire from the tray to the battery. Best of both worlds taken care of.

 

[sparra04]

0.4 amps is f/all
less than your tail light
let us know how you go
cheers

 

[Malicious]

0.4 amps is f/all

less than your tail light

let us know how you go

cheers

Yep about 3.6w @ 12v

 

[matt c]

So cause it draws so little I might just do it to the tray a lot easier and less wire

 

[sparra04]

So cause it draws so little I might just do it to the tray a lot easier and less wire

yep it will be fine

 

[04HUG]

G'day.
I have just finished hooking up a pair of 35w HID lights. I used the tray as the earth but had to run an earth from the tray to the Chassis. It also blew a 10amp fuse, 15 amp is OK.

On the inside of the Left Hand Chassis Rail in front of the rear axle is an earth bolt.

 

[Old.Tony]

35W is about 3A so x 2 = 6 amps, shouldn't have blown a 10A fuse unless the ballast draws a whole mess of power to start it up. Generally fuses can handle 2x their rating for a short period.