Is it a bad idea to ground an amplifier right to the negative battery terminal? My friend has an old BMW and the battery is in the back of the car and thats where his system will go. Someone told him not to do this because it will drain the battery but I didn't think it made sense b/c the neg goes to the chassis and no matter where you ground it, it will lead back to the negative terminal of the battery. It would be great if someone could clear this up for me.
Thanks,
Randy

 

You will be fine grounding to the battery. Infact if you are using a higher power amp, this is BEST, many times factory installed ground wires aren't large enough to accommodate an additional several hundred watts.

It was customary to NOT ground to the battery, because in most vehicles it required a long cable back to the front of the car....which is obviously not your case.

DO IT DO IT DO IT

 

Agree with Frost.....Straight to the battery in your case....Most cases in my opinion

 

As they said, you can run the ground return straight to the battery terminal. You can then reduce the possibility of resistance in the chassis connections from robbing you of power under high current conditions. However, one thing to watch out for is the gound loop that you may cause IF you also fasten the amp's chassis to metal that is also grounded. This "ground loop", or two paths for current flow, is a prime generator of unwanted NOISE and may devlop over time when the resistance of one path changes and causes a voltage to be induced into your system.

Just

 

Thank you all very much. You guys really helped me out.
Randy