Positive Ground

[jwmckenna46]

I don't want to convert my 65 Midget electricals which are positive ground, but I want to install a new CD. If I isolate the CD from the frame, can I just run positive and negative leads in from the battery to power it up, or do I have to do more to insure I don't burn it up?

 

[aerog]

Originally posted by jwmckenna46:
I don't want to convert my 65 Midget electricals which are positive ground, but I want to install a new CD. If I isolate the CD from the frame, can I just run positive and negative leads in from the battery to power it up, or do I have to do more to insure I don't burn it up?

Yes and no.

If you completely isolate the frame of the CD/Radio from the car - which should be impossible but still a challenge to ensure it's 100% safe - and run positive and negative to the appropriate wires on the radio, then yup it'll work fine.

You'll run into a problem when you look for an antenna though. The typical antenna installation requires a ground to work well. Most of the automobile antennas I've seen either ground their bases directly to the frame, or have a ground wire that needs to go to a ground point somewhere. You could run that ground wire all the way back to the "negative" side of your power lines going to the radio, but I don't know what effect it will have operationally on the antenna (good or bad). Just beware.

Obviously if you just want the CD player you just need positive and negative wired properly, and make sure everything is completely isolated from the vehicle frame.



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-- Scott
https://www.aerog.com/mgpage