Common Ground

Image by Alexturton

Grounding components on equipment is a good idea; it can eliminate ghost rates and pressures. Electronic equipment performs better, and engines run more efficiently. Components can experience ground loop noise, which is common when good ground points go bad, corrode, become loose, or have an impedance difference, etc. Some issues require a component to rectify, but most can be easily solved by inspecting and checking the ground circuits.

Sometimes the wire isn’t correctly sized, grounds are at multiple points across the equipment causing a loop, or the equipment is tethered or daisy-chained through another unit that’s causing a weird issue. Good, clean grounds are essential. Bad grounds can strike at any time, so a quick inspection can keep them trouble-free. Different grounding points can lead to different voltage potentials between components.

It’s always best to find “common ground.” Keep them clean and tight. - Heston