| Author | Message | ||
     Erz |
Getting ready to install a zumo. I was going to tap a ground that I ran up front already for my air horn. Is it true.... never tap into a ground? | ||
| Metalstorm |
Depends. If the Zumo is as low amp as I think it is, I don't think it would hurt to tap it's ground unto an existing ground wire. If it were say extra lights, I would say no way. The factory 18 ga ground wires are too small for the extra load. If you have an S, Ss or X, it would be just as easy to crimp an eyelet onto the end of the Zumo's ground wire and ground it to one of the screws behind the flyscreen in the metal bracket. On Edit: I justr reread your post. You say you put a ground in for your air horn. If it's 16ga or bigger (I like using 16-14ga for my grounds) it should be fine. 16ga I believe can carry 15 amps with no problem. So if that horn carries less than say 12 amps you'll be fine. I've seen some applications where there were several gadgets running off one ground. They all had 16ga. wires that tapped into a big 12ga. wire that was fastened to the frame via screw. (Message edited by Metalstorm on June 30, 2009) | ||
| Rwven |
I tapped my Garmin off of the Aux (cigarette lighter) circuit in the dash. There is a hot and a ground right there. Unless you do not want switched power... | ||
| Andrejs2112 |
Why not? As long as you are doing a proper splice or tap you shouldn't have issues. Chassis ground is chassis ground. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I want to say the reason is, if you have too many ground branches / taps, you can get goofy EM stuff happening....not good for electronics. | ||
| Sanchez |
> I tapped my Garmin off of the Aux (cigarette lighter) circuit in the dash. I did the same for my Zumo. It's been working fine for a couple of years now. I do recommend using a switched source, such as the aux port. The Zumo will power on and off with the bike. It gives you a 30 second prompt to remain running on internal batteries after you shut off the key. | ||
| Thetable |
By tapping into existing grounds, you can create weird power loops that will cause difficult to troubleshoot symptoms. If it is done correctly, you can tap grounds, but the one time you aren't paying quite enough attention, and you wire that fancy new farkle in to find out when it is powered up the current leaks through the horn circuit, well... It's just easier not to. | ||
| Tank_bueller |
+1 on the 12v outlet, but I grounded to a random bracket screw behind the flyscreen. Works great. Why the he!! is the acc outlet switched with the ignition instead of the key anyway??? | ||
| Froggy |
The accessory jack is controlled by the ECM on 08+ models. | ||
| Tank_bueller |
I guess that's why the bike sucked the Zumo battery dry on one occasion. Hasn't happened since? Might have to change the switched power source... | ||
| Slaughter |
Yeah... a switched power source prevents it sitting and draining. I run mine right to the battery with the Zumo-supplied fused harness - BUT I always put it in my pocket when I leave the bike for theft AND for electrical discharge. | ||
| Ronmold |
If you're grounding to a "random bracket" and that is on the moving part of the flyscreen, I believe you're grounding through the triple tree bearings. I don't think the flyscreen metal has a ground strap to the frame. This may or may not be a problem for the bearings if the current is low but you could get an intermittent ground to the device, depending upon the bearing grease film strength. | ||
| Tank_bueller |
Must be a strap somewhere. The horn is grounded to the bracket. If that doesn't work, Buell has a BIG problem. |
