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AEROLED SWITCH WIRING

mfleming

Well Known Member
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Searched for photos and tips but no joy.

My AEROLED Pulsar NS Navigation Lights and Suntail are NAV/Strobe LEDs. The instructions for installing are posted below.
For those that have gone before me (many I'm sure)

How did you gang the shield grounds near the switch location??

I've experimented with various ways to solder the shield to a single pigtail but it's bulky and looks terrible. The factory recommended soldering with a solder sleeve but none of the ones I have are big enough to go around three 3-20 wires.

In the photo you will see the three 3-20 cables coming from the left, right and tail lights. The instrument panel is removed so I can have some working roo. The switches would be just a few inches away from the stripped sections.
 

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Fan out the shield wires away from the three conductors in each shielded bundle, twist them together with a #18 wire, solder then cover this joint with heat shrink. The #18 goes to ground. Have the three conductors long enough past the end of the shields to go to the switches you want.

Carl
 
All these suggestions are great.

Looks like I got a case of target fixation when I tried to lump all three 3-20 shields together. After dinner I’ll do a test daisy chain and finish up in the am :rolleyes:
 
I called them and they said it's not a requirement to go to the switch. I shielded mine to the rib with a solder sleeve. I have zero noise or interference.
 

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I called them and they said it's not a requirement to go to the switch. I shielded mine to the rib with a solder sleeve. I have zero noise or interference.

So just for the historical record, AERLEDs tech support told me the shield ground should transit from the light, to the panel ground location...

My info came in 2020...maybe some inconstancies coming from AERLEDs tech support.
 
I do not recommend grounding the NAV/Strobe on the airframe. I do however recommend adding a small aluminum plate on the inside of the wingtip, the small wingtip cutout fiberglass will then be sandwiched between the small aluminum backing plate and the NAV/Strobe mountiong bracket via the three NAV/Strobe bracket screws.

Take the NAV/Strobe ground lead, using a ring terminal, to the inside of the wingtip bracket screw, Attached the NAV/Strobe power feed ground to this same point. The objective is to have the NAV/Strobe case at ground (the NAV/Strobe ground does not connect to the case unless you do this - at least in the several year old units I had.

Use a three #20 conductor shielded wire to feed the NAV/Strobe. Conductors provide:
- Power to the NAV LEDs
- Power to the Strobe LEDs
- Strobe sync wire
- The shield provides the common ground.

Doing this has provided noise free NAV/Strobe operation.

Carl
 
I do not recommend grounding the NAV/Strobe on the airframe. I do however recommend adding a small aluminum plate on the inside of the wingtip, the small wingtip cutout fiberglass will then be sandwiched between the small aluminum backing plate and the NAV/Strobe mountiong bracket via the three NAV/Strobe bracket screws.

Take the NAV/Strobe ground lead, using a ring terminal, to the inside of the wingtip bracket screw, Attached the NAV/Strobe power feed ground to this same point. The objective is to have the NAV/Strobe case at ground (the NAV/Strobe ground does not connect to the case unless you do this - at least in the several year old units I had.

Use a three #20 conductor shielded wire to feed the NAV/Strobe. Conductors provide:
- Power to the NAV LEDs
- Power to the Strobe LEDs
- Strobe sync wire
- The shield provides the common ground.

Doing this has provided noise free NAV/Strobe operation.

Carl

Can you post a photo of this set up Carl?
 
Can you post a photo of this set up Carl?

I already looked for one - no joy.

But this is really simple. Cut a small piece of aluminum (thin is fine) that is roughly the same shape as the inside of the wingtip cutout under the area where the NAV/Strobe mounts. The black wire from the NAV/Strobe gets a ring terminal, and goes under one of the NAV/Strobe mounting screws nuts on the inside of the wingtip. Attach the shield of the three conductor shielded wire to the same place, on the inside of the wingtip.

Carl
 
So just for the historical record, AERLEDs tech support told me the shield ground should transit from the light, to the panel ground location...

My info came in 2020...maybe some inconstancies coming from AERLEDs tech support.

Exact quote received from AeroLED's;

"It is important to run the ground return wires from your lights all the way to the central ground bus of the aircraft. Don’t use the airframe as a ground return."
 
Ignore AeroLED's instructions at your own peril

Exact quote received from AeroLED's;

"It is important to run the ground return wires from your lights all the way to the central ground bus of the aircraft. Don’t use the airframe as a ground return."

We installed a local ground at each wingtip (guys don't read instructions!) and failed the magnetometer interference test (GMU 22 mounted in wingtip). You could see the strobe pulse live during the test. We removed the local grounds (the wiring had a ground back at the forrest of tabs) and the test passed. Lesson learned.
 
I did it both ways when I built my Rocket a decade ago. Some LED strobes available then were electrically noisy, and some were not.

I ran the shield grounds back to the common panel ground, but also include a shield ground near the wingtips. This gave me the option of either or both(left it at both with no trouble, WAT lights).

http://www.vx-aviation.com/sprocket/photos/panel_elec/schematics-2/LIGHTS.pdf

Vern
 

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I found a photo of this backing plate mounted in the wingtip.
Note - the Nav/Strobes are only grounded to the aircraft at the firewall. The connection to the ground wires at this plate are not connected to the airframe.
Carl
IMG-0102.jpg



I do not recommend grounding the NAV/Strobe on the airframe. I do however recommend adding a small aluminum plate on the inside of the wingtip, the small wingtip cutout fiberglass will then be sandwiched between the small aluminum backing plate and the NAV/Strobe mountiong bracket via the three NAV/Strobe bracket screws.

Take the NAV/Strobe ground lead, using a ring terminal, to the inside of the wingtip bracket screw, Attached the NAV/Strobe power feed ground to this same point. The objective is to have the NAV/Strobe case at ground (the NAV/Strobe ground does not connect to the case unless you do this - at least in the several year old units I had.

Use a three #20 conductor shielded wire to feed the NAV/Strobe. Conductors provide:
- Power to the NAV LEDs
- Power to the Strobe LEDs
- Strobe sync wire
- The shield provides the common ground.

Doing this has provided noise free NAV/Strobe operation.

Carl
 
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