Is It Necessary to Ground a Head Unit?

[Deactivated] on 05/10/2022 - 09:46
Last edited 05/10/2022 - 09:47

I got a new head unit, but the car wiring harness does not have the right plugs, so I am looking at adaptor harnesses, which appear to have the right plug shapes, but none of the ones at repco / supercheap from the aerpro brand come with a grounding wire, while the no name harnesses on ebay do come with a grounding wire.

is it necessary for it to come with the grounding wire? the current (aftermarket) radio harness appears to have a plug in grounding wire, though I am not sure if that was added aftermarket or not.

Automotive

Comments

  • bhubb18 on 05/10/2022 - 10:27
    +2

    Some cars ground through harness, some cars through running the ground wire to a metal point behind the dash.
    You will need that wire to be ground to something for it to turn on.

    • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2022 - 10:43

      so if it turns on, i'm good?

      i saw some people mention online that they can be grounded just from contacting the metal frame that you screw it into, though a proper grounding wire is generally preferred.

      • bhubb18 on 05/10/2022 - 10:45
        +3

        Yes.
        The head unit only needs power, ground and a trigger wire to turn on.
        Ground is effectively anything metal that is in contact with the negative terminal on the battery.

        • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2022 - 10:51

          thanks!

        • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2022 - 16:58
          +1

          turns out the harness did come with a ground wire, it just wasn't shown in any of the pictures.

  • Euphemistic on 05/10/2022 - 10:54

    It depends. The earth in the harness is probably enough but hard to say without knowing which headunit, which car or even which harness.

    What does the manual for the new headunit show?

    • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2022 - 10:59

      this head unit

      this harness

      the manual isn't great, it more or less just shows plug and play.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join