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Attaching Wires to Fuse

rockitdoc

Well Known Member
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Anybody have a trick method for securing wires neatly to interior fuse elements without the need to drill holes for clamps, etc.?

I am routing some wire from my battery to a sub panel plug mount and would like to rout and secure the wire along various members behind the firewall but do not wish to drill holes in the members to accommodate clamps.

There must an elegant method to do this that I am not aware of.
 
What Paul says. That said, the adhesive that comes on many zip tie mounts can be a bit weak so, if it matters that it stays exactly where placed, I remove the original tape adhesive and use shoe goo or equivalent to cement the zip tie mount to structure.
 
What alpinelakespilot2000 said, except ...

I replace the original adhesive strips with 3M VHB tape, and then "initialized" it with some heat (heat gun) prior to application.

if you are not familiar with VHB tape - look it up, its very user "friendly" and quite capable.

HFS
 
"Oakie" Clickbonds

You could also make your own - the one shown below is make for attaching Adel clamps (for wire looms as an example).

Attach either with 3M VHB tape or w/3M 2216 Structural Adhesive - both work well if the substate is prepared properly - as noted above.

HFS
 

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Same problem, thanks for the leads. Dang shame those Click Bond fasteners are so expensive, hard to justify.

Follow on question: At what point would you have to use an Adel clamp instead of a zip tie through a cable tie mount? Pretty obvious is you have 10+ 4 ga wires in one bundle, but how about 10 or so 16 ga wires?


Thanks,
 
Adel vs tie base

Anything firewall forward are Adel clamps, except small wires attached to firewall I used tie bases. Everything behind firewall is tie bases with sho glue, except control cables are Adel per plans.
 
You could also make your own - the one shown below is make for attaching Adel clamps (for wire looms as an example).

Attach either with 3M VHB tape or w/3M 2216 Structural Adhesive - both work well if the substate is prepared properly - as noted above.

HFS
Would like more details on “how” these are made. Your post talked about “how” they are glued but what are you using to build these?
 
RVbySDI - "How It's Made"

I used 1" Phenolic round bar stock - easy to machine (but tough on tool sharpness), non conductive & durable enough for the job.

Base is .063" and shoulder is 3/8" o.d. x 1/8" high.

Drill & tapped for an 8-32 screw, and machine countersunk on the backside for flush head SS screw.

The shoulder serves two purposes:

1. Provides enough "thickness" for the countersink, with adequate depth left over for the binding threads.

2. The "stand off" from the base makes the Adel clamp install a bit easier.
 
I'm too cheap so I rolled my own "click bonds". I simply used some .063 sheet and hole sawed some 1.25" coupons. Buffed them on the 3M wheel. Countersunk one side for a flush head 8/32 screw. I used a few star washers and a nut on the other side to act as a standoff and to be able to tighten the assembly. I then used JB weld and stuck em on. I did a test one on a scrapped piece and it would not pry off. The 8/32 would bend over first. Took all of :25 to make 9. Cut the screw after for the length I needed.

Keith
 

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I'm too cheap so I rolled my own "click bonds". I simply used some .063 sheet and hole sawed some 1.25" coupons. Buffed them on the 3M wheel. Countersunk one side for a flush head 8/32 screw. I used a few star washers and a nut on the other side to act as a standoff and to be able to tighten the assembly. I then used JB weld and stuck em on. I did a test one on a scrapped piece and it would not pry off. The 8/32 would bend over first. Took all of :25 to make 9. Cut the screw after for the length I needed.

Keith

Nice work.
 
Here's a possibly-interesting follow up to this thread.

Based on other's experiences and recommendations, I decided to try making my own "click-bond" style standoff mounts and experiment with different adhesives and surface treatments. I didn't take pictures before hand, but I'll attach a picture I took this morning after some pull tests and re-attaching one fitting for further testing.

Methodology:

I tried four different types of attachments, three adhesives, and two surface treatments. I have not yet tried all possible combinations. This was not a particularly scientific test, but I did make an effort to make my process as consistent as possible. I did not make any attempt to measure the force applied during the pull tests.

Attachments:
1. Homemade attachment made by:
a. cutting a 1" square of 0.032" sheet aluminum from kit scraps
b. deburring and rounding edges
c. drilling #19 and dimpling a hole for an AN509 screw
d. installing an AN509-8R8 screw with flat washer and nut
e. installing a second nut to use to grab the screw

2. Random nylon (probably) 4-way cable tie with double stick tape (factory applied) from an unknown vendor (I got these when I bought my tail kit from the previous owner and he included a bunch of stuff and supplies)

3. Nylon cable tie from Aircraft Spruce (Tyton brand) https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/hellermann_tieanchor.php?clickkey=134587

4. Stainless steel anchor from McMaster-Carr (29/32" base 1" long #8-32 screw thread, "Rotaloc" brand) https://www.mcmaster.com/97590A838


Adhesives:
E-6000
Gorilla Glue
JB Weld "Plastic Bonder High Strength Structural Adhesive"
The random double stick foam tape that was already on the 4-way nylon tie mount.

Surface Preparations:
1. Bare aluminum, cleaned with acetone, scruffed with maroon scotch-brite, then cleaned again with acetone
2. Aluminum coated with Sherwin-Williams strontium chromate primer, CM0724400, yellow, spray applied after scuffing and cleaning with acteone, fully cured, wiped clean with paper towel soaked in acetone (primer was not removed, only wiped).
3. In all cases except the double stick tape, the base of the attachment hardware was scuffed and/or sanded to apply "tooth" to the bonding surface.

I bonded each attachment type to both types of substrate (except I only applied the double-stick tape mount to the primed aluminum). I allowed each adhesive to cure for the recommended time at ambient temperature (shop was 68F when applied, overnight shop was allowed to drift down to 50F, then back up to 68F when tested). The E-6000 was tested prior to its full strength cure time (24 hours) because I was impatient. I'll repeat this test with a full cure time just for completeness later.

After curing, I pull-tested the various attachments in one of two ways: for the screw-type mountings, I threaded a nut onto the threads, then gripped the nut with a pair of Vice Grip pliers, and pulled, first in the direction normal to the aluminum surface, and then, if that did not fail, with a "peeling" moment on the screw shaft.

For the wire tie type mounts, I threaded a locking Nylon wire tie through the mount and then pulled in the normal direction--again if that did not fail, I pulled at an angle intended to try to get the adhesive to peel free.


Results:

The 1" aluminum base homemade attached with E-6000 adhesive pulled free relatively easily in the normal direction in all cases. I will repeat this test with a full 24 hour cure time at a later date, but I'm not encouraged by this result.

The nylon "Tyton" wire tie mounts bonded with E-6000 pulled free in the normal direction relatively easily.

The "Tyton" mounts bonded with Gorilla Glue pulled free in the normal direction with a little more force than the E-6000 required, but still not enough for me to feel comfortable that it would be at all permanent.

The "Tyton" mounts bonded with JB Weld Plastic Bonder held relatively tightly but still pulled away such that it would not be permanent. I expect this is primarily due to the small surface area of the Tyton mounts.

The 4-way wire tie base with foam tape applied to the primed surface held very tightly in all pull directions. I was unable to pull on the wire tie hard enough to either dislodge the base or to distort the underlying aluminum.

The "Rotaloc" mount attached to the primed surface with the JB Weld Plastic Bonder held so tightly that I could not pry it loose even with a peeling motion without severely distorting the underlying metal.

I am in the process of testing the JB Weld Plastic Bonder with my homemade 1" base mount--when it cures and I test it I'll post those results.

The JB Weld Plastic Bonder is not equivalent to the normally used JB Weld--it is advertised as specifically intended to allow bonding of plastics and it cures with a flexible quality, not rock hard as other epoxies do. It seems very durable so far.
 

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I use the cheap nylon parts. Scrap off the cheap foam adhesive, sand surface, apply VHB tape and mount. HOlds very well.

Larry
 
Look on Ebay for the Clickbond fasteners. I managed to get a entire tray of them for not too much money. I'm using them to route wire in the aft fuselage.
 
I am routing some wire from my battery to a sub panel plug mount and

Most of the options mentioned in the posts above should work. For the thicker and heavier battery cable, you will probably need a solid screwed in anchor point. The adhesive back pads are also sensitive to heat. I place them at the bottom the fuse instead of on the sidewall in order to use gravity to keep them in place.
 
I've been using the Click Bond cable tie mounts with good success. I've used the Click Bond adhesive in the little packets and it has worked fine up until now. It seems there is now a supply chain issue since ACS doesn't have stock of the little packets. I ended up using some left over 5 minute epoxy on a couple of mounts as a test. While I want the mounts to be on there "permanently" I would like the option of removing them later, possibly with the use of a heat gun. Anyone have experience or suggestions?
 
I also use the nylon fasteners; however, I buy the ones without the adhesive and fasten them with 5 minute epoxy. Saves scraping off the adhesive. I also scuff up the base of the fastener, and the aluminum, so the epoxy sticks better.
If I remember correctly, you can get these non-adhesive fasteners from Allied Electronics.
 
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I use the cheap nylon parts. Scrap off the cheap foam adhesive, sand surface, apply VHB tape and mount. HOlds very well.

Larry

+1 except pro-seal for adhesive. Wish someone had told me about VHB 7 yrs ago! BTW - flame treating will enhance epoxy adhesion to low surface energy materials.
 
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