In a message dated 97-11-14 00:33:04 EST, walker05@camosun.bc.ca writes:
> Now, there's another urban legend that states that pos. ground cars, when
> driven on foggy nights, experience an excessive draw of electricity when
> driving amongst other cars (negative ground)... Not sure if this is a
> legacy of Lucas or if it's just a myth.
Malcolm:
I think I can say with a fair degree of certainty that this is a myth.
Remember, electricity, regardless of which way it flows, leaves the battery
from one post, and must return to the battery through the other post. That is
a vital point - without the return to the other post, there is no electrical
current flow (nor elctron flow, either). There is no such thing as leakage in
this respect. You can set a positive ground car right next to a negative
ground car, hard wire their bodies together, and there will be no current
flow between them.
If there is any leakage during foggy, damp weather (and there might be), it
will be wholly within the individual cars, from one battery post to the
other, either directly across the top of the battery, or through the various
wiring runs and components in the car.
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
http://www.sky.net/~boballen/mg/Masters/
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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