[DML] Capacitors, and "Ground Bus"

[Marc Levy <malevy_nj@xxxxxxxxx>]

FWIW Martin, I agree with most if not all of what you said here, and think Bill is making an improper relationship between poor grounding and the need/use of capacitors.  HOWEVER, I have corrected many electrical problems in a number of DeLoreans by simply cleaning the grounds.  I was adding additional grounds to DeLoreans years before Bill came up with his brilliant "ground bus" (I am being sarcastic).  Making a big fuss over this solution to the "dirty ground" issues in the DeLorean is over the top, but the voltage drop caused by bad grounding in any circuit will have an impact on performance.

The DMC electrical system seems to have been designed (as most Lucas systems) for the specific use intended.  There is not a lot of margin for error, and with years of water/dirt/oxidation on electrical connections, it for sure will impact electrical performance.  

I have never said a bad word about the "ground bus", however it is not the only solution to the grounding problems...  And I think connecting grounding issues to the use of capacitors in the original design is *probably* incorrect.  Of course, I have no idea what the engineers were thinking 30 yrs ago.  Maybe the DeLorean Museum will come across some ECN's that explain why capacitors were added in later cars?  Even if it was for the AM radio, I still don't think a "ground  bus" would have corrected this problem (instead of a capacitor).
  

--- On Sun, 7/1/12, Martin Gutkowski <martin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: Martin Gutkowski <martin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [DML] Re: Mystery capacitor
To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sunday, July 1, 2012, 9:29 AM

The point of this reply is to point out corrections, not to argue. I am 
not interested in going off-piste with your repsonse - please stick to 
what I've actually written. I've never tried pulling the 
"qualifications" card but I am a qualified electronic engineer.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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