Anyone Add a Second Landing Light?

[kevinl4000]

Originally Posted by rvbuilder2002

A decision was made to not market a second (right side) Skyview screen based on available surplus of the alternator output. I imagine the power requirements of a a second landing light would be a similar concern.

Okay, so the amps budget to add a second light is a valid concern based on the size of the alternator. What if you only wanted it for the wig-wag in the landing pattern? The increase in amps should be both temporary and negligible. I'd be interested in knowing how to wire my plane up to add the second light after the Phase 1 flyoff in a Vans-approved manner before the wing skins go on. Thanks.

[txaviator]

Originally Posted by kevinl4000

Okay, so the amps budget to add a second light is a valid concern based on the size of the alternator. What if you only wanted it for the wig-wag in the landing pattern? The increase in amps should be both temporary and negligible. I'd be interested in knowing how to wire my plane up to add the second light after the Phase 1 flyoff in a Vans-approved manner before the wing skins go on. Thanks.

See John's post, #19 above. AERO LED answered the question for us.

[J.Coles]

I powered both my landing lights up today and both lights appeared to work okay and the wing wag sure look good swapping from wing to wing. As has been discussed I would not use them both on together. I considered changing the wiring slightly so you could not accidentally run the two together. I will think about doing that later.

Julian 120316

[Dean_aeroleds]

Just to chime in, if you run two Aerosun lights in Wig-Wag mode, they will draw the same current as running one light steady on, because only one will be on at a time, and the handoff is instantaneous.

There is a wiring diagram that shows how to wire two Aerosun lights to wig-wag in the installation instructions that can be found here:
http://www.aeroleds.com/portals/d7ac...stallation.pdf

[ronschreck]

Two lights just look cool!





Seriously, I run two HID landing lights, nav lights, strobes, smoke pump and fuel pump all at once with a 40 amp alternator.

[cactusman]

Originally Posted by John-G

John Mc - perfect timing for your question ? let me first start by saying my build is going to be E-AB and not E-LSA. I?m in the process of adding a landing light to the left wing. My left wing skeleton is completed but the wing is not skinned yet. To help alleviate the aforementioned audio noise issues, I?m running 20 gauge three conductor shielded wire to both the landing and nav/strobe lights (AreoLEDs recommends shielded wire for the nav/strobe but they had a 50? minimum so decided to use it on the landing lights as well).

The left wing?s electrical connector will accommodate your needs, but will be maxed out. The ground, stall warning, and nav/strobe wiring consumes 5 of the 8 contacts leaving three available?and that is what you will need for the landing light power, wig wag power, and the master to slave (think wig wag sync) wire.

I also will be running the Tygon tubing for the AOA feature. In my case, this requires kicking up to larger wire grommets for the eight ribs the Tygon will pass through. I will be using Heyco SB-437-5 grommets (available from Mouser) which have a wire hole of .312" in the eight ribs the Tygon tubing will be running along with the two shielded wires. It requires going up to the next size larger hole on a step drill to 7/16?. For the rest of the ribs, the grommets supplied by Vans could work but it is a VERY tight fit for the shielded wires (and forget about pulling in another wire) so I will likely use Heyco SB-437-5 grommets up to the landing light and Heyco SB-437-4 grommets, which have a hole size of .270, for the remaining grommets ? the mounting hole size for both grommets is the same ... 7/16?.

I do not plan on doing any night flying, so will only use the left landing light in the wig wag mode. That said, I will run the wire to the left light?s steady on power (red wire) through the wing and should the output of the Rotax electrical get increased in the future, I can tie the wire down should I decide to night fly and want the light. I suppose a switch could be added to only power up the additional landing light on short final to keep from over taxing the system for a long period of time.

I called AeroLEDs and verified that the total current consumption of both lights in the wig wag mode is the same as one light steady on ... and it is according to them. For wig wag operation all that needs to be done is wire from the right light?s master out (green wire) to the left light?s slave input (blue wire) and have power applied to both light's wig wag power (yellow wires). Note: For wig wag operation, power is NOT needed on the steady on (red) wire and if power is applied to the wig wag (yellow) wires it overrides the steady on power and places the light in a pulse or wig wag mode depending on a one or two light instillation.

Hope this helps,

John
Dues paid
www.DOGAviation.com

Thanks John.

I am building stock E-LSA, just thinking about the future. It does appear that my lighting kit has a wire for pulse landing light going to the connector (Dec 12 kit), so I might just see if I can string wires thru the existing grommets without doing any mods to pre-wire for a possible future addition of a light post-cert, pre-paint.

It sounds like you and others are using wiring that is better than supplied in the lighting kit? Do you have a recommendation or source for that wiring?

Has anyone else doing a recent build had issues of noise using the stock wiring Van's supplies in the kit?

[cactusman]

IOW, just to clarify the above....

Thinking of buying shielded, color-coded 18 ga wire to replace the stock wire in the lighting kit to help:

1) reduce noise
2) better track the wiring by color to connector (good for adhd builders like moi

http://www.steinair.com/SearchResults.cfm?key=18+ga

of course they only have white shielded......

[John-G]

John-
I ordered my shielded cable from AeroLESs ? they carry 3 conductor 20 gauge shielded cable (in 50? minimums) for use with their lights, so will be using that for both the nav/strobe and landing lights inside the wings. However, the grommets supplied by Van?s will NOT support both cables being shielded. I switched up to Heyco SB-437-5 grommets (from Mouser) ? it requires kicking the hole size in the nose ribs up to the next size larger on the step drill to 7/16?. Now, there is also plenty of room for the mod using the Tygon tubing for the AOA indicator should you decide to go that route at a later date.

My plan is to run 18 gauge shielded wire from the instrument panel to the electrical connectors on the sides of the fuselage for the strobe circuit where the current will be the sum of both wing lighting units. May also do the same for the wig wag lighting ? have not heard if noise is generated in wig wag mode, but it can?t hurt.

John
Dues paid until summer
www.DOGAviation.com

[cactusman]

Originally Posted by John-G

John-
I ordered my shielded cable from AeroLESs … they carry 3 conductor 20 gauge shielded cable (in 50’ minimums) for use with their lights, so will be using that for both the nav/strobe and landing lights inside the wings. However, the grommets supplied by Van’s will NOT support both cables being shielded. I switched up to Heyco SB-437-5 grommets (from Mouser) … it requires kicking the hole size in the nose ribs up to the next size larger on the step drill to 7/16”. Now, there is also plenty of room for the mod using the Tygon tubing for the AOA indicator should you decide to go that route at a later date.

My plan is to run 18 gauge shielded wire from the instrument panel to the electrical connectors on the sides of the fuselage for the strobe circuit where the current will be the sum of both wing lighting units. May also do the same for the wig wag lighting … have not heard if noise is generated in wig wag mode, but it can’t hurt.

John
Dues paid until summer
www.DOGAviation.com

I called Van's and AeroLed and really didn't get an answer. I think (and they thought) using the shielded wire on a E-LSA build would be fine, but enlarging the holes and using bigger grommets in my case would likely be pushing the limits of a DAR's patience imho. E-AB like yours of course you can do what you want of course.

I do see that my Dec 12 lighting kit includes a capacitor for noise reduction and AEROLED recommended using common grounds wherever possible.

I wish Van's had followed AeroLeds recommendations for shielded wiring at least on the nav/strobe lights but I want to follow their plans. Thanks for the info though and best of luck with your build.

[rvbuilder2002]

Originally Posted by cactuspilot

I called Van's and AeroLed and really didn't get an answer. I think (and they thought) using the shielded wire on a E-LSA build would be fine, but enlarging the holes and using bigger grommets in my case would likely be pushing the limits of a DAR's patience imho. E-AB like yours of course you can do what you want of course.

I do see that my Dec 12 lighting kit includes a capacitor for noise reduction and AEROLED recommended using common grounds wherever possible.

I wish Van's had followed AeroLeds recommendations for shielded wiring at least on the nav/strobe lights but I want to follow their plans. Thanks for the info though and best of luck with your build.

Just to clarify...
Van's has always used AeroLED's recommendations for the installation of their products, but as they have advanced the developmenty of their products, those recommmendations have changed over time.
It is my understanding that only recently they began recommending shielded wire be used when installing their units.