Electrical question

[boberoberson]

Ive been doing some reading about how electricity flows. My ground wires for the front lights are grounded to a peice of flat steel part of the frame, problem is i have to periodically sand it to keep the wires from burning up. What ive read online is electricity flows on the surface of wires, hence why they are strands. My question being is after i clean it up, wish i could have it bead blasted in the future...but for now can i sand it and paint it and will the electricity still flow under the pain? ive seen it on a dodge truck thinking, why cant i do the same thing? I want to clean it and get new bolts fasten it together nice and tight and just paint it. Comments or suggestions please!

 

[rustyroger]

Electricity flows through a conductor, nor around it. think of bus bars domestic wiring or fuses to see what I mean. Wire for automobiles is multi stranded to make it more flexible and easier to install, and it is less susceptible to vibration damage.

I think you have a bad ground for some reason, do you just have the wire secured with a screw?. A proper terminal firmly fixed to a clean flat surface using wire of the right size or even a bit bigger and you should be good to go.
It's just occurred to me, where two dissimilar metals (copper and steel is a good example) are joined and have current passed through the join you get the phenomenon of electrolytic reaction. Some dielectric grease on the joint (easily obtained from Radio Shack or similar stores) will help inhibit this process. A coat of paint will help as well.

Roger.

 

[rccktmn2]

Technically speaking current flows around the wires and yes you are correct by saying that is why we have multi strand wire-rustyroger is also correct in saying that it is more flexible and less susceptible to vibration damage, it's also cheaper to make etc. Voltage is pressure and it pushes current through your wiring to light up your lights. Yes you can do the same thing that dodge did and paint the surface of the ground. When you put the ground wire on make sure it's touching the bare metal that you wire brushed or sandpapered etc, so you have a good ground for the current to flow back to the battery. When you paint it or put a coating on it you are insulating the outside of the terminal and wherever you attatched it, your not getting the paint between the contact points of the ground wire and the frame or metal etc. So clean it up, put the ground where it needs to go and ensure it's a good connection and then paint it, undercoat it etc. Good luck!

 

[truracer20]

The current has every metallic particle of the wire energized NOT just the surface... Stranded wire is only for flexibility, Not added surface area. If you are burning wires with a lost ground there is some other issue such as too many improper splices, too small of wire gauge, loose ground attachment, broken wire strands, corrosion in plugs or sockets or corrosion on the conductor wires inside of the insulation. These types of issues can cause excessive heat in the wiring. Also proper grounds should not need to be cleaned very often if ever at all. Be sure you have a ground wire between the engine block and battery, engine block and frame(never had them from the factory that I know of but easy to add and eliminate many issues), engine block and body as well as between battery and body. It seems to me that you don't have a good frame to battery ground, if the frame is where the ground is attached. I was thinking the lights were grounded to the body.

 

[565bbchevy]

Technically speaking current flows around the wires and yes you are correct by saying that is why we have multi strand wire-rustyroger is also correct in saying that it is more flexible and less susceptible to vibration damage, it's also cheaper to make etc.

Typically for the same size wire it will always cost more to buy stranded wire versus solid wire

 

[boberoberson]

good info guys, id take pictures to show what i mean but my phone was stolen =x