windhund116

Does the ground wire come in from the opposite side on JDM cars?

Dizings2k

It comes with a masterlock!

engifineer

Having started in residential and commercial wiring and then later going to electronics engineering, the usage of these terms has always annoyed me but it is what it is lol.

In AC systems, earth grounds do not carry current unless there is a short. Neutrals do carry current and are the more akin to the "negative" lead in a DC system. Now, with out of phase power legs like the two "phases" in what is actually single phase house power (see how funny and messed up this gets? lol) 220v circuits can operate without any neutral at all since the current travels through both hot legs and back to the source and the only ground there is the earth/safety ground. You can actually add an earth ground to a vehicle like a dragging conductor you see on a gas truck and is used to eliminate static electricity buildup.

But on cars, all this stuff gets used in strange ways if you look at the original definition. I normally just refer to it as positive and ground or battery ground in a car. In a car the grounds you see are serving as both a chassis ground and a battery ground (like a neutral in AC). But then they had "Positive ground" car systems that further confused people. In reality there is only battery + and battery - in a car and that makes a lot more sense overall. technical terms get odd over time!

I know this is all pretty much useless for this conversation but I have always kind of laughed at a lot of these terms. So in short, it is easier to just say power and ground when referring to a cars electrical system.

cosmomiller

And now you introduce EVs with separate electrical systems!

spider2k

UGH, positive ground systems. die old Jaguars, die.

engifineer

Dad had an old Packard in his his shop that was originally a 6V positive ground system that had been converted to a 12V positive ground system and then had issues so they brought it to him. That was fun.