When I first got my BJ7 I mounted a FM/cassette player under the heater
box isolated by a 1/2" piece of plywood. The antenna rode loose in the
back seat along with the two box speakers. Worked fine until a week
later I drove it to Washington, D.C. to visit a friend. The player came
out of its bracket and went into the house with me that night. The next
morning $250 dollars worth of speakers had disappeared from the rear
seat. Probably saved me from burning up on Rt. 95, but I was really
annoyed.
Ground has some esoteric meaning which isn't limited to the opposite of
"hot". The water flow model of electricity which we are taught in high
school isn't all that's going on and the rest of it escapes me totally,
except the results can be really damaging to the equipment at the least.
I've read that the polarity in our cars is the way it is partially to
minimize dielectric oxidization where different metals come into contact
(aluminum and sheet steel, for example). In addition to not being an
electrician, I'm also not a metallurgist, so I have to take them at
their word.
I'd switch polarity since it is so easy and, done correctly (see the
archives) is an easy 20 minute transformation and you never have to
worry about problems with stray electrons. What never, well, hardly
ever.
Bill Moyer, BJ7 known as Chimera
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