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Darn - Plate Nuts Misplaced

mfleming

Well Known Member
Patron
I'm not sure why this is giving me fits but I can't seem to come up with a simple solution that doesn't butcher the sub panel.

I used a template that was commercially available for my Garmin LRUs. This allowed me to install plate nuts before I received the LRUs...very handy.

They worked perfectly for everything but the GAD-27. The GAD-27 misses the plate nuts and I'm trying to come up with a solution that looks serviceable but doesn't modify the GAD-27 in case it needs to be sent back for warranty work.

Any ideas that don't involve major surgery :confused:
 

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Use only two screws to hold it? Build a standoff and mount the GAD-27 to it? Two screws and double-sided tape? Just some ideas, but I'd probably spend 3 days looking at it trying to find a good solution...and come back to the first or second idea. Good luck, I know how frustrating these kinds of issues can be.
 
My non engineer reviewed opinion is to simply drill another hole in the mounting bracket about an inch to the left of the mis drilled holes and install two more nut plates. Not the most elegant solution, but it prevents replacing parts.
 
Drill new hole in the correct location. Install nut plates at a 45° angle to the horizontal. Fill prior nut plate holes with rivets.
 
...and while we're entertaining our OCD -- check the position of the ring terminals, looks like a few of them are installed upside down

:)
 
As Mickey said - a clean way is to build a standoff. One way to do this is with a couple of lengths of aluminium 1/2 inch "C" section extrusion.

Or as Brian suggested - just drill some extra holes and rotate the nut plate. Pragmatic and the 6 extra holes in the sub-panel won't do any real harm.

A third way is to rivet the two plate nuts to a loose doubler strip that is the length of the LRU. Blind rivet the doubler strip behind the sub-panel using the 2 right-most holes from the original plate nuts. The only extra holes required will be for the 2 screws to mount the LRU.

I hope you give some feedback to the template supplier to save other future builders from suffering the same fate!
 
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As Mickey said - a clean way is to build a standoff. ....SNIP....I hope you give some feedback to the template supplier to save other future builders from suffering the same fate!

Yes, I certainly did notify the template supplier...Hope they fixed the problem too.

Thanks for the tips...I'm probably going to make a stand off bracket...I will be able to utilize the already installed plate nuts and won't have a mess of ugly holes looking at me ;)
 
Michael,

This is one of those things that can be seem worse in your mind than it is in actuality. Sometimes we have a plan and when things don't work out the way we planned it is difficult to get past it.

I recently had a problem with my GAD 27 mounting too. I'm mounting mine on the forward ribs. I thought I had it all worked out. I drilled the mounting holes for the GAD 27, GAD 29 and GEA 24 and had the units attached temporarily before I installed the plate nuts. Another VAFer came over (DRAKER) and the first thing he says is that GAD 27 mounting isn't going to work. I had taped over the connectors to prevent them from getting metal shavings in them, but in the process had loss track of one of them. The modules were too close together to plug the connector in. I like you was upset since I had a plan for how all of this was going together in my mind. I walked away from it and when I came back I figured out an easy way to fix it, and yes I have a few "lightening" holes.

So my point is don't make the repair overly complicated. It is a bigger deal in your head than in reality. If you don't want to have to look at your mistake make a doubler, rivet it on and then drill some new holes. Otherwise drill two new holes and install the plate nuts going a different direction.
 
Thanks

This was one of those problems where I knew there was an easy solution but target fixation kept me bound up ;)

Thanks for the suggestions. The stand-off bracket was the obvious choice for a clean fix. No butchering of the sub panel and all the work done on the bench :D

Left over 'Z' brackets worked perfectly
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This was one of those problems where I knew there was an easy solution but target fixation kept me bound up ;)

Thanks for the suggestions. The stand-off bracket was the obvious choice for a clean fix. No butchering of the sub panel and all the work done on the bench :D

Left over 'Z' brackets worked perfectly
icon14.gif
Looks clean - like you planned it this way for additional cooling. :)
 
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