Ingrid 38 Ground Plate

[akswimdog]

I'm trying to locate the ground plate on my Ingrid 38. I know the interiors and electrical were finished off by the owners....but wondering since the hulls were factory made they "possibly,maybe,coulda,woulda,shoulda" standardized initial placement...Any Ingrid owners have any ideas on this? Many thanks.

[jrogers]

Hi SwimDog,
We have an underwater grounding plate on our Ingrid. It's under the head to port just below the turn of the bilge. A 24x30 inch copper plate with a bolt through a strip of copper as a kind of washer. The whole thing is screwed to the hull and has the through hulls for the head through it. It's set up for a mast ground wire and also, a bonding wire for the through hulls connects to it. Is this what you had in mind? I had to install a common ground point for the DC system- nothing set up when we purchased her six-years ago. What is your hull number? We are 23 and things may have changed in later years.
Good luck,
John

[roverhi]

Why do you think there would be a ground plate on your Ingrid??

Few if any boats have such a beast from the factory. Some people glass in a 'ground plane' for the HF radio on the interiorof the boat but that's strictly an aftermarket thing. Others add a DynaPlate to the exterior of the hull, once again for an HF radio. The DC system is typically ground to the engine block. Many boat manufacturers bond all the through hulls together but that's not for a ground but an attempt to equalize any stray currents that may be flowing around the boat.

AC systems are best left floating using the shore power as the ground.

Maybe Blue Water or whoever built your hull included a ground though I doubt it.

[akswimdog]

Originally Posted by jrogers

Hi SwimDog,
We have an underwater grounding plate on our Ingrid. It's under the head to port just below the turn of the bilge. A 24x30 inch copper plate with a bolt through a strip of copper as a kind of washer. The whole thing is screwed to the hull and has the through hulls for the head through it. It's set up for a mast ground wire and also, a bonding wire for the through hulls connects to it. Is this what you had in mind? I had to install a common ground point for the DC system- nothing set up when we purchased her six-years ago. What is your hull number? We are 23 and things may have changed in later years.
Good luck,
John

John, Thanks for the info- Sounds like you're describing the internal bonding strip/bus (unless I misunderstood). I was actually wondering if any of the Ingrids had an external copper ground plate, thru bolted at which point the bonding strip would be attached on the inside of the hull via adequate size jumper (awg#6). Our hull is #14. There doesn't seem to be a very active 'owners group' that I'm aware of... I tried to contact a couple listed via google but never got any response. I sure appreciate you response!! Thank you!

[akswimdog]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Why do you think there would be a ground plate on your Ingrid??

Few if any boats have such a beast from the factory. Some people glass in a 'ground plane' for the HF radio on the interiorof the boat but that's strictly an aftermarket thing. Others add a DynaPlate to the exterior of the hull, once again for an HF radio. The DC system is typically ground to the engine block. Many boat manufacturers bond all the through hulls together but that's not for a ground but an attempt to equalize any stray currents that may be flowing around the boat.

AC systems are best left floating using the shore power as the ground.

Maybe Blue Water or whoever built your hull included a ground though I doubt it.

Rover, Its not that I had a preconceived notion that there would be a ground plate- I was trying to find out what bluewater had done when they built the hulls. My interest in this is in regards to 'bonding' for the purposes of corrosion and lightening protection as opposed to 'grounding' for the purposes related to grounding the electrical system. similar but distinctly different in application. While I understand the application of grounding through the engine block, I also prefer to include an exceedingly low resistance path to an external ground plate especially in the case of lightening protection and corrosion issues.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Why do you think there would be a ground plate on your Ingrid??

Few if any boats have such a beast from the factory. Some people glass in a 'ground plane' for the HF radio on the interiorof the boat but that's strictly an aftermarket thing. Others add a DynaPlate to the exterior of the hull, once again for an HF radio. The DC system is typically ground to the engine block. Many boat manufacturers bond all the through hulls together but that's not for a ground but an attempt to equalize any stray currents that may be flowing around the boat.

AC systems are best left floating using the shore power as the ground.

Maybe Blue Water or whoever built your hull included a ground though I doubt it.

My boat came with factory installed protection..copper wires running from chainplates,mast compression post,the engine,the mast and it seems like a lot of other places as there is copper wire running all over the boat...DVC

[akswimdog]

Thanks Tropical for the input. I know it does vary from boat to boat and while some of the newer boats may be more apt to initiate some the "standards" set out by NMMA and ABYC, it does add to the cost so there are those that opt to not include what might be termed "best practices"....thus leaving it for the entrepreneurs to market and owners to research and implement some of these applications. I've always been a believer in trying to stack the deck as much as possible in ones favor especially when it comes to electricity, lightening and electrical systems while floating in a puddle of water. Best, AK

[steve ripples]

I know this thread is a little old and you all may have ( I hope) solved your problems by now. However, reading this made me remember something I had come across recently in an original brochure (online) for the Ingrid, describing the construction of the fibreglass hulls by Bluewater in the 1970's and early 80's. Here's the quote:

BALLAST: 8,000 pounds total. Approximately 7300 pounds steel and 700 pounds resin and sand. Placed inside the keel full fore and aft from bobstay iron to the stern shoe, approximately 20" deep at the deepest part. Glassed over with 1 layer 2 oz. Mat, 6 layers roving to provide a double-bottomed boat, box beam rigidity, immense strength. Cooper screen laid under the ballast with copper cables up to each bulkhead for a ground plane for long distance radio. Also serves as grounding for all fittings.

Good luck in finding the cables now!