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What is bonding?

Connecting metal parts and the system negative to a common ground so a fault trips protection instead of making something live. Done at a single point.

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Why it matters

Bonding ties metal parts and the system negative to a common ground so a fault trips protection instead of leaving a surface live — a core safety principle, done at one point.

Where it fits in your system

It connects exposed metal and the negative to the single grounding point, so fault current has a defined, safe path back.

How Wattonomy handles it

Design your van, boat, cabin or RV system in Wattonomy and it marks the bonding/grounding point and flags it as a placement decision for your platform — from the appliances you actually run, sized to the recognized standard for your region. You see it on the wiring diagram, in the sized parts list, and in a plain-English build pack that explains the reasoning behind every choice. No account, no email — about a minute to a complete, validated design.

Questions

What does bonding do?

It connects metal parts and the system negative together so a fault has a safe path that trips protection, rather than making something live and dangerous.

Bonding vs grounding — what is the difference?

Bonding links conductive parts together; grounding ties that network to earth or chassis. Both happen at the single grounding point to avoid loops.

Design your system — free

It takes about a minute. No account, no email.