Thinking about installing Flyleds

cwilkins · #1 06-01-2020, 04:14 PM

I?ve been having issues with my Whelen strobes, and was thinking about upgrading to Flyleds on my RV-8. I?m not worried about building the boards or connectors, but I am concerned about routing the wiring. I recently installed a G5 as a backup, and routing the wires to the GMU11 (located in the empennage) was a nightmare. Thankfully I have a tiny 11yo daughter who was able to help me run the wires through the fuselage.

For those of you who have upgraded your lights, how bad was routing and properly securing the wiring in the wings?

mcgaughy · #2 06-01-2020, 05:01 PM

While I haven't done a retrofit, I have assembled and installed "the works" on a bat-wing RV wing tip like the early 8's and 7's had. There's even more room in the newer tips. Anyways, the power requirements are low and the general AWG size is small (18 AWG or less). So my guess is that your existing strobe / Nav wire would work....and your existing strobe wire should already be shielded. Maybe I'm missing something.....

Ellis

n82rb · #3 06-01-2020, 05:38 PM

dont think, DO!

they are fantastic.

i used the wiring that was already in the wing for the whelans that came out. use the red for nav power, white for strobe power, and black for ground.

bob burns
RV-4 N82RB

Paul from Flyleds · #4 06-01-2020, 06:03 PM

Hi Craig

You can easily reuse your existing strobe wiring. The Flyleds kit has a central controller board to drive the strobes which you can mount in the same spot as your existing strobe power supply.
There is a wiring diagram on the last page of the System Wiring Guides that covers this, as found on the Information page of the website.
The strobe wires will need to be re-terminated to suit the Flyleds controller board so I would recommend you order a crimp pin connector as well (assuming you choose to buy a kit!), as they are easier to work with in the confines of the cockpit.

cderk · #5 06-02-2020, 04:09 AM

Highly recommend the FLYLEDS kit. I installed in on my -10 and couldn?t be happier with the ease of install, Paul?s great support and their performance.

rv8ch · #6 06-02-2020, 04:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul from Flyleds

You can easily reuse your existing strobe wiring.

This is what I did and it worked perfectly, both for tips and tail.

If for some reason you still need to run new wires, use your existing wires to pull new wires. Also, with the tips off, the wing inspection panels off, wing root fairings off, and the floors removed, you can run wires without too much trouble.

Jasonm · #7 06-02-2020, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cderk

Highly recommend the FLYLEDS kit. I installed in on my -10 and couldn?t be happier with the ease of install, Paul?s great support and their performance.

Same here!!

F1 Rocket · #8 06-02-2020, 05:41 AM

I retrofitted a set of the ?Works? lights in my Rocket. The kit was a fun build and the install went very smooth.

912ry · #9 06-02-2020, 07:23 AM

I replaced my whelens/vans landing lights with the fly leds. It was a fun project, much brighter landing lights. With the strobes on steady mode the area just ahead if the wing is lit up, making night landing in tail dragger easier. Also, you drop a little weight by removing the whelen strobe power pack. Go for it!

Dave S · #10 06-02-2020, 07:27 AM

If you have basic soldering skills you can build the board. It was a lot of fun and Paul was great with customer service and answering my questions!

I can't wait to have my aircraft flying so they actually get used, right now they are done as I work on the fuselage on my RV-7