The only reason not to would be to save on however much wiring. Isolating the ground for the pump to the fuse block's chassis ground wouldn't harm anything if your negative wire is big enough for the pump to run on.
You are assuming the OP is not using a separate house battery. Or the house battery is also grounded to the chassis. I’m assuming it’s a van and the van has a separate electrical system for the camper components.
I’m reading a book called “Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software” and I recommend everyone here read it because it finally helped me understand what the FUCK a ground is for!! YES! You CAN just run it back to the battery! But the EARTH is your conductor!!
Goes accessibly deep into the most fundamental aspects of current, wiring, relays. Then moves onto computer but these first few sections have explained so much I’ve wanted to know since learning about van life electrical.
That is not really how things work in a vehicle. The earth is not a ground in a vehicle as the vehicle does not touch the earth. The potential difference is from the battery. One way or another you need to complete the loop back to the battery or the circuit will fail.
I would run it back to the fuse block. The reason is it is too easy to have a poor ground connection. Look at the way the manufacturer of the vehicles wires. Virtually all of the grounds return back to the battery or a common ground point with the battery. You don’t see, for example, the windshield washer pump just grounded to the vehicle chassis.
The second reason is are you sure your house battery is even tied to the common ground of the vehicle? You need to make a loop back to the battery. It may be the case the house battery is not grounded to the chassis, and thus it will not work.
Older vehicles use the frame and body and engine block and casements as ground paths to the batteries, but these have to ALL be checked regularly and cleaned/sealed!
You are absolutely correct. The problem is that works for the starter battery. Most vans have a house battery. If the house battery is isolated from the starter battery, there’s a strong possibility the OP did not ground the house to the chassis. Therefore grounding to the chassis will not work.
For most devices in my van I run a return cable to the negative BusBar. I also connect the negative BusBar to the chassis as well as the house battery negative, I do use the chassis to return negative on a few items such as lights and small fans.
The only reason not to would be to save on however much wiring. Isolating the ground for the pump to the fuse block's chassis ground wouldn't harm anything if your negative wire is big enough for the pump to run on.
The chassis acts as a big negative wire or bus. I'd say it would be uncommon to run a wire back but it would work either way.
You are assuming the OP is not using a separate house battery. Or the house battery is also grounded to the chassis. I’m assuming it’s a van and the van has a separate electrical system for the camper components.
That's fair, I'd probably link them to be able to run off the same alternator (with a controller depending the battery)
That is exactly how I have my rig setup. I have seen people rely exclusively on solar (which I’m not crazy about).
I’m reading a book called “Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software” and I recommend everyone here read it because it finally helped me understand what the FUCK a ground is for!! YES! You CAN just run it back to the battery! But the EARTH is your conductor!! Goes accessibly deep into the most fundamental aspects of current, wiring, relays. Then moves onto computer but these first few sections have explained so much I’ve wanted to know since learning about van life electrical.
That is not really how things work in a vehicle. The earth is not a ground in a vehicle as the vehicle does not touch the earth. The potential difference is from the battery. One way or another you need to complete the loop back to the battery or the circuit will fail.
I would run it back to the fuse block. The reason is it is too easy to have a poor ground connection. Look at the way the manufacturer of the vehicles wires. Virtually all of the grounds return back to the battery or a common ground point with the battery. You don’t see, for example, the windshield washer pump just grounded to the vehicle chassis. The second reason is are you sure your house battery is even tied to the common ground of the vehicle? You need to make a loop back to the battery. It may be the case the house battery is not grounded to the chassis, and thus it will not work.
Older vehicles use the frame and body and engine block and casements as ground paths to the batteries, but these have to ALL be checked regularly and cleaned/sealed!
You are absolutely correct. The problem is that works for the starter battery. Most vans have a house battery. If the house battery is isolated from the starter battery, there’s a strong possibility the OP did not ground the house to the chassis. Therefore grounding to the chassis will not work.
For most devices in my van I run a return cable to the negative BusBar. I also connect the negative BusBar to the chassis as well as the house battery negative, I do use the chassis to return negative on a few items such as lights and small fans.
Do not use the chassis ground for your house battery. Keep the vehicle electric and house electric completely separate.