Yes, if you try to connect a negative ground device to a positive ground car by running the negative current to the power wire of the radio, the radio will short out. Then you can throw it away. One solution is to insulate the radio from the chassis and then run a wire from the negative side of the car's electrical system to the chassis of the radio and from the positive side of the system to the power side of the radio. This works, but if anything else on the car that is grounded comes in contact with the chassis of the radio, you now have a maj0r short and possible fire hazzard. In the past, I have tried to safegaurd against this by installing a fuse in both the power and the ground line going to the isolated radio, so that if either side is the cause of the short, the fuse will blow out.

The converter, in theroy, allows you to attach the negative ground radio to the chassis directly and power it through a converter that steps up the voltage to 24 volts.

 

It seems both are happening, no? The converter takes 12 volts and steps it up to 24. Go back and take a look at the link to the article that I posted in the first page.

As I understand the logic, the modern radio is looking for a +12 volt difference between ground and power. If the chassis is positive ground, then the power is a negative value and the radio does not work (actually shorts out). The coverter steps the hot side up to 24 volts so that the radio gets the 12 volt difference. As I said in my first post, I'm not sure this is accurate. It just makes sense to me as a layman.

 

Update. I called the people who sell the inverter-converter at the bottom of the linked page and talked with them about it. they have been in business for several years and sell a bunch of these. I bought one. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

Something like that, but no explosion. If one hooks the battery up backwards on a British car the horn sucks and the lights casts shadows.

 

Resisting the urge to start telling Lucas Electrics jokes.

There it passed - I'm fine now.

 

Lucas stuff works fine if you don't try to add radios.