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Shielded Strobe Light Wire Questions

A

AirWolf

Active Member
I am routing the shielded wire for my strobe lights in my 9A right now, and I was planning on having a connector between the wing and the fuselage, so that I could essentially completely wire the fuselage before I put the wings on.
With regards to the shield on the wire, I am assuming that I should use a connector of some type to connect the shields as well. Is that assumption correct?
Also, is there a site that shows how the 'right' way to ground a shielded wire? I know that I need to ground the end at the power supply, but I have never done it before, and haven't seen any pictures of how to do it either.

Thanks!
Ron
RV-9A - Wiring
 
Ron,

I've done exactly what you've described. You can peruse my web site if you want to see some photos of the install. Yes, you need to pass the ground wire through the connector as well. To ground it at the power supply, just crimp on a ring terminal and mount it underneath one of the hold dowm screws of the power unit. Nothing more than that is required.

You DO NOT want to ground the wire anywhere else (including at the wing disconnect fitting) as that creates multiple ground paths for the same circuit which = noise.
 
Ron,
I used a flat 4 trailer connector and you must connect the ground on each side of the connector.
 
664781 said:
Ron,
I used a flat 4 trailer connector and you must connect the ground on each side of the connector.
Click to expand...
*****
I also used a trailer connector (6 pin) for NAV and strobe lights, works great.

I would like to add that if you are using Whelen units, I recommend you attach a ground wire to the casing in addition to the black (NAV light) ground wire.

To see why, unscrew the cap on the NAV light connector and see how Whelen 'bridges' the black wire to the case: They use a thin 'blob' of solder...I spent over an hour troubleshooting why my NAV light stopped working. Connect a ground wire to one of the case screws too! :)
 
I used a 12-pin bulkhead Molex connector and used it for my position lights, landing lights, and heated pitot tube wires as well as the strobe wires. I got it at Mouser. www.mouser.com
 
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Trailer connectors are available at Advance Auto Parts, NAPA, Auto Zone any number of places. Probably at Home Depot, Northern or Harbour Freight.
 
Thanks for all of the help and suggestions! I ended up getting some 6 pin connectors at radio shack, similar to the connectors that come with the nav/strobe light kit that van's sells.

Ron
RV-9A
 
These Micro-X connectors from Newark electronics make for nice small connectors, which are low-cost and weatherproof.
A picture of one is here...
http://www.newark.com/productimages/standard/4079284.jpg

This page lists them all. The nylon ones are under $5 and are a good alternative to the $$$$ metal mil-spec type.

http://tinyurl.com/6zwzr


These also make neat connector for the trim servos and stick wiring. They have a postive lock and won't vibrate off.

gil in Tucson :)
 
use butt splices

I used molex connectors in my wing roots for nav and strobe wires but wouldn't spend the time doing THAT again. Those wings are never coming off if I can help it, and if they do, cutting and resplicing new connectors will be the least of my worries.

Use butt-splice connectors instead.

-clay
 
OK Guys, this is going to go against everything that's been posted, but here goes anyway.

I'm cleanly against putting any connectors in the wing root. Why?? Several Reasons.

#1) They flatly just are not needed. It's not like you're going to remove the wings on a regular once it's built. Put some conduit in the wing and feeding the wires will be a cinch. I've done this more than once and it works fine, even with a bundle of wires and antenna leads.

#2) It's another point of failure. Whether or not you use Molex, Amp, "Trailer Connectors", etc.. it's still another point of failure to troubleshoot when things get wonky. Short of butt splices, even trailer connections offer lots of areas for intermittent failures. Any of you trailer owners will know what I mean.

#3) Connectors in the root are exposed to more elements than in the plane, etc.. More pins means more surface area to corrode and cause problems.

#4) Shielding. Others have mentioned running the shield throug the connection, and that's ok, but still not as good as just running the complete shielded wire without a break.

#5) Signal Loss. More connections means more signal loss in Autopilot Servo connections, Antenna Leads, Remote Mag Sensors, etc.. Many of these components are sensetive to changes in their feed lines.

#6) No matter what you use it takes a extra time to install these things, then you need to secure them somehow to make sure the pins won't come loose on the wires, etc..

Here's what you do. If you absolutely need to have the wires in the wing before you mount them, just simply coil up the extra 10' and zip tie it to the root rib until you mount the wings. Once they are mounted you're done. If you absolutely MUST have some sort of break in the wing root fairing, do as others have suggested and use a butt splice. They have no pins to corrode, no wire to come loose on the pins, no connection, etc..

Sorry if this note sounds a bit rash, but as many of you know that's my style. I don't mix words, and this is one area that is a pet peeve of mine. Ask yourself if the advantages (what advantages) outweigh the possible future problems.

Cheers,
Stein.
 
SteinAir said:
#1) They flatly just are not needed. It's not like you're going to remove the wings on a regular once it's built. Put some conduit in the wing and feeding the wires will be a cinch. I've done this more than once and it works fine, even with a bundle of wires and antenna leads.
Click to expand...
I completely disagree. They may not be needed for YOU, but I've had to remove my wings at least twice. Here's are some situations to consider. I like to finish my wings and check the wiring before I get to the airport. Why? Because my garage is heated and my hangar is not. I try to finish the entire airplane at home and troubleshoot the problems there. Second, I fly my airplane the first six months unpainted so I can make any necessary fixes. When it comes time to paint, I have to remove the wings and truck the airframe over to the painter so it will fit in his booth. I don't like to do the same thing twice, that's my pet peeve.

SteinAir said:
#2) It's another point of failure. Whether or not you use Molex, Amp, "Trailer Connectors", etc.. it's still another point of failure to troubleshoot when things get wonky. Short of butt splices, even trailer connections offer lots of areas for intermittent failures. Any of you trailer owners will know what I mean.
Click to expand...
Properly crimped connections will outlast the airplane. I submit that these extra connections create an very small increased risk of electrical failure. Of course, I have all the proper crimping tools, use excellent connectors, and take care to insulate the connections from water infiltration. For me, the extra work is worth the convenience.
SteinAir said:
#3) Connectors in the root are exposed to more elements than in the plane, etc.. More pins means more surface area to corrode and cause problems.
Click to expand...
Yes. One must take care to protect the connections.
SteinAir said:
#4) Shielding. Others have mentioned running the shield throug the connection, and that's ok, but still not as good as just running the complete shielded wire without a break.
Click to expand...
I submit that they are electrically equivilent.
SteinAir said:
#5) Signal Loss. More connections means more signal loss in Autopilot Servo connections, Antenna Leads, Remote Mag Sensors, etc.. Many of these components are sensetive to changes in their feed lines.
Click to expand...
I really don't know enough about the subject to comment. I don't see any warning in my EFIS or my AP wiring to tell me that I can't add a connector in the middle somewhere. Of course, that doesn't mean that there isn't some signal loss. I guess I'll have to check this out further.
SteinAir said:
#6) No matter what you use it takes a extra time to install these things, then you need to secure them somehow to make sure the pins won't come loose on the wires, etc..
Click to expand...
Again, you assume bad installation technique. There's no protection from that. I use a bulkhead 12-pin AMP fitting with gold-plated pins. If they come loose, it's because I was a lousy installer. I get what I deserve.

I don't disagree that you add complexity when you add disconnects. However, properly done, I do not think they add any significant risk to your electrical system. I also wanted readers to be aware that there are perfectly acceptable reasons for having such devices in their airplane. To each their own.
 
Good & fair post, Randy. We can agree to disagree, and I can see some of your points as well as the benefits.

You obviously are doing the connector thing better than most. Bulkhead fittings are a good start, gold plated pins are a better solution than tin or silver plated pins (gold doesn't corrode). My point is just that I've seen an awfull lot of crazy type connectors going in wing roots that I wouldn't even use on my car!

If you're going to do it, at least do it right like Randy.

Cheers,
Stein.
 
wiring....

gathering from what I read....shielded cable should be used for wing wiring...what guage and why the shielded wire in thw wings...somebody educate me to the basics of "aircraft wiring".....not how but materials to use...thx :cool:
 
The shielded wire is typically the harness that comes with the strobe units. The Whelen wire loom has a ground wire in it that needs to be continous from the strobe light to the power unit.

As far as your other question, there isn't enough space in this white box I'm typing in to convey all the knowledge to wire an airplane. I'd suggest two books. One is the Aeroelectric Connection by Bob Nucholls. You can find it at http://www.aeroelectric.com/. The other is Firewall Forward by Tony Bingelis. EAA sells them as do many others.

These will give you the basics. You can ask specific questions from there.
 
ground for strobe power supply

Is it necessary to run the black ground wire from the creativeair power supply to the common ground on the firewall, or do you just ground that wire to the chassis? The instructions say to ground the power supply box to the chassis, but they are unclear as to where to ground the black ground wire from the unit.

Thanks,

Tony
 
One more option...

Quote:
Originally Posted by SteinAir
#1) They flatly just are not needed. It's not like you're going to remove the wings on a regular once it's built. Put some conduit in the wing and feeding the wires will be a cinch. I've done this more than once and it works fine, even with a bundle of wires and antenna leads.


....and from f1rocket....
I completely disagree. They may not be needed for YOU, but I've had to remove my wings at least twice. Here's are some situations to consider. I like to finish my wings and check the wiring before I get to the airport. Why? Because my garage is heated and my hangar is not. I try to finish the entire airplane at home and troubleshoot the problems there. Second, I fly my airplane the first six months unpainted so I can make any necessary fixes. When it comes time to paint, I have to remove the wings and truck the airframe over to the painter so it will fit in his booth. I don't like to do the same thing twice, that's my pet peeve.

There is an "in-between option"....

Have no connector, but put an extra 1 ft in the wire bundle, and coil it up somewhere near the wing root.

For those occasional times (two?) that the wing must come off, just cut the wires. When the wings get re-installed, then you have a choice of either a connector or solder splicing (or crimp splicing) the wires together.

Easier to do initially, final outcome the same if the wing ever comes off....

gil in Tucson
 
Tony, ground it locally. I ran it forward..got noise.... got fixed by grounding locally.



tonyjohnson said:
Is it necessary to run the black ground wire from the creativeair power supply to the common ground on the firewall, or do you just ground that wire to the chassis? The instructions say to ground the power supply box to the chassis, but they are unclear as to where to ground the black ground wire from the unit.

Thanks,

Tony
Click to expand...
 
thanks

Thanks for the input Radomir. I wonder why you got noise from what would seem to be the proper way. Oh well, go figure. I will ground it locally as you suggest.

Thanks
 
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