hello,
I would like to know without trying this if having the positive line from one power source connect with the negative from another power source will that cause a direct short even though the other half of the connection is not completed
Not necessarily, in the general sense you can common up either plus or minus rail to either of another, as long as the other respective rails do not come in contact.
Max.
Think: 2 batteries. Connect a negative to a positive and you get twice the voltage available. That circuit can be used as if the connection was "ground" and you have a negative supply and a positive supply, or, you can think of the most negative point as one important point, and the most positive end as the other. You have 2 open ends and a center to use as you wish, but no current will flow until you connect something more than one point.
IT WORKS!!!! ok I have successfully rebuilt a world clock with 15 slave clocks this set up is a engineering master piece..... if I say so myself ...........I will post a video later I want to thank everyone who helped me complete this project