Conduit

Brent Colvin · #1 02-12-2007, 02:25 PM

Hello all,

Wondering what to use for conduit in wings. Have read horror stories about trying to get Van's corrigated conduit into wings. I have seen 40 ga PVC ele. conduit at hardware stores, will that work? Or is it to thick & heavy? Thanks

DeltaRomeo · #2 02-12-2007, 02:32 PM

Hi Brent,

I used regulary old gray PVC from the aircraft section of Home Depot in my -6 wings. No issues to date (5 years flying).

Best,
Doug

William Slaughter · #3 02-12-2007, 02:33 PM

Yes, it will work, and yes, it's kinda heavy. Pulling the Van's conduit through the wings was not a lot of fun, but it was manageable and it sure is light and functional. I'd do the same again.

TSwezey · #4 02-12-2007, 02:43 PM

Home Depot sells stuff that is a little smaller than Vans. I put that in and then used a fish tape to pull the wires through.

RVbySDI · #5 02-12-2007, 02:53 PM

I am not sure yet if this is going to be what I use but I did purchase some foam rubber insulation material normally used for insulating central a/c freon lines. It is very light weight and has a smooth inside surface for running wires through it. It is very flexible but does not have the accordion wrinkles of most flexible conduit. It is also cheap. I believe I bought a 10' section of it for around $2.50.

I have been thinking that this would be a good material to use for wire runs. I actually had bought some of this for another build project but went a different route with that build. As I said, I am not sure if I will go this route or not on the RV but I cannot see why it would not work. It would definitely be much lighter than electrical conduit.

RV7Factory · #6 02-12-2007, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Colvin

Have read horror stories about trying to get Van's corrigated conduit into wings.

I will echo William's comments... It really wasn't that bad. It took about 15 minutes to do each wing and I broke a light sweat, but I too would do it again. After drilling, I deburred/edge-finished the holes really well, and I stretched the conduit as I pulled it throught the ribs (silly picture below) which made it much easier to install.

jcoloccia · #7 02-12-2007, 03:21 PM

I know a lot of people use PVC but I'll just put this out there....

"You only pull conduit once but heavy is forever"...

Rick_A · #8 02-12-2007, 03:27 PM

I got this idea from Jeff Bordelon and it works great. They sell some very thin wall PVC at HD or Lowes. Comes in 50' roll. It's about the same size a Van's but without the corrigated ribs, so it much easier to pull - especiallu if you've got a QB wing.

Low Pass · #9 02-12-2007, 03:45 PM

Use SDR (thin-walled) PVC pipe.

Rick6a · #10 02-12-2007, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Colvin

Hello all,

Wondering what to use for conduit in wings. Have read horror stories about trying to get Van's corrigated conduit into wings. I have seen 40 ga PVC ele. conduit at hardware stores, will that work? Or is it to thick & heavy? Thanks

After installing a run of PVC in one wing of my 6A, I came to the conclusion that Van's conduit is a good lightweight choice and by installing it the way I recently outlined, you avoid all the "horror" and it still comes in at a significantly lighter weight than using common PVC.
http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ad.php?t=14523