Wire For EAB Aircraft
 

Question on wire requirements for EAB Aircraft
I came across a 500 Foot roll of Belden 530 FE 6 conductor 18 Gauge Stranded Shielded Wire for a very good price. Can I use this For Fuel Pumps, Lighting and non Radio Items.

Thanks for any Help

Joe

For EAB aircraft you can use coathanger wire if you want.
However most are using Tefzel M22759/16 or M27500/16 not standard audio cable.

The real difference is that Tefzel wire does not put out toxic smoke, if you have an electrical problem.

Having been in a car that had an electrical problem, I'm very happy to have used Tefzel wire!

When I am tempted to use some "bargain" component, I think:

What is the price savings divided by the approximate total cost of the build?

So let's say the cost savings of this wire over proper wire is $200. Divide by the total build cost, let's optimistically say $50,000.

200/50000 = 0.004 or 0.4% of the build cost.

Worth it?

There a few other reasons besides smoke. The mil spec insulation withstands higher temps, typically 150 or 200 deg C, ( vs. commercial 85 or 105deg C) resist cold flowing due to stress in clamping, and doesn't sustain fire. The stranding in aircraft grade wire (as22759) wire is finer than most commercial wire which improves fatigue at connections. Also, the conductor is not bare copper, it is either tinned or plated, which resist corrosion where exposed and ensures a low resistance connector.

Hope that helps with your decision.

Thanks All
 

Thanks All
A lot of good reasons not to use this wire
Thanks Again

Joe

I used Harbor Freight and AutoZone wire on three home builts. In 20 years of operation none of my problems were related to wiring.

Touch?, thank you Mr. Schaller.

Not to be facetious here, but that data point is not particularly useful when we don't know if those planes were Breezy's with no electrical system or turbine pressurized Lancairs with full IFR EFIS systems in them. While others have pointed out, you certainly can use anything you choose...but...that doesn't mean it's a good idea. Also, buying wire at Autozone or Harbor might not have saved you much of anything in the end because often thise litlle packs of wire or terminals and such end up costing you more than the "good stuff" to begin with. Car wire is heavier, much lower quality (insulation, conductor, etc..) and just a very poor choice on these planes with these avionics and systems. Other designs or planes perhaps would be different.

Also, if you try that with many of the modern avionics and electrically dependent systems you WILL have problems with it sooner or later; for sure firewall forward, etc.. Not much good automotive shielded wire or coax cable available either. As someone pointed out, stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime sometimes is a dubious decision on an aircraft like an RV12 with such advanced electronics, avionics and other systems. Drum brakes worked fine on cars (and airplanes) for years, but why would you spend the same or more than disc brakes to use those....just because you could (and many of us did)?

Just my blunt and biased 2 cents as usual! :)

Cheers,
Stein

To add to what Stein said...

At some point you may wish to sell your plane and the buyer is going to have it inspected. It is likely that the inspector will tell the prospective buyer to avoid any aircraft wired with anything other than aviation wire and connected to aviation standards.