Earthing a bilge pump inside my van

[Gazz K]

I've got a 400 litre tank in my van and I need to pump pure water directly into a back pack. To wire it the bilge pump correctly I need to earth the pump and the negative pole on the leisure battery.

I know nothing about electrics, but I'm guessing that the pump and the battery need to be earthed by connecting them to the metal bodywork of the van. Or do I just connect the earth wire from the bilge pump to the negative terminal on the battery to complete the circuit?

 

[Dave B]

It's only a 12v pump

Connect live to live and negative to negative

If you want add a fuse somewhere in the circuit but that is all you need to do

It should only have 2 wires..live and negative

 

[spruce]

I've got a 400 litre tank in my van and I need to pump pure water directly into a back pack. To wire it the bilge pump correctly I need to earth the pump and the negative pole on the leisure battery.
I know nothing about electrics, but I'm guessing that the pump and the battery need to be earthed by connecting them to the metal bodywork of the van. Or do I just connect the earth wire from the bilge pump to the negative terminal on the battery to complete the circuit?

You can do it either way. Negative to the body work or negative to the negative battery terminal. If you are doing it to the body work then you need to make sure the battery's negative terminal/post is also wired to the bodywork. Both connections need to be good to the bodywork.

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