Question on AeroLEDs grounding + shared wiring

[sritchie]

Hey all,

I've done a lot of reading on the grounding requirements for the AeroLEDs, and I think I have a good handle on the grounding. My summary is that the grounding lines from each of the lights should NOT be joined into a single line and brought forward to the panel, but that each light on each side of the plane should have its shield brought all the way up to the firewall. Here's the thread I'm referencing:

http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...t=94927&page=3

Is this correct?

Now for my question. What about power and wig wag lines? I have a single power line for my Aerosun VXs and another for my NS90s. I'd like to use a small terminal block to split power out to each wing. Is there any problem with doing this, or do I need to have a power line for each wing running all the way from as close as possible to the panel?

Just getting my head around the massive wiring task ahead of me. Thanks a lot for your help, everyone!

[Raymo]

I did what you are describing and it works well (zero noise). A terminal block is mounted under the passenger seat in my -7A where power comes from a 3 conductor (NAV, Strobe, Landing) shielded wire from the panel and lights are connected there, including the shield ground from each light and from the panel wire, along with the sync wire. Shielding is ground under the seat to the airframe.

No wig-wag in my setup but a 4th line could be run for that. No shielding needed.

[sritchie]

Originally Posted by Raymo

I did what you are describing and it works well (zero noise). A terminal block is mounted under the passenger seat in my -7A where power comes from a 3 conductor (NAV, Strobe, Landing) shielded wire from the panel and lights are connected there, including the shield ground from each light and from the panel wire, along with the sync wire. Shielding is ground under the seat to the airframe.

No wig-wag in my setup but a 4th line could be run for that. No shielding needed.

Hey, that makes great sense. Did you also connect the passenger seat grounding block to your firewall grounding block?

[Raymo]

Originally Posted by sritchie

Hey, that makes great sense. Did you also connect the passenger seat grounding block to your firewall grounding block?

No. The lights are grounded near their mounting location, per instructions. The black wire joins the shielding and is grounded under the seat, along with the shielding from the power wires from the panel..

[sritchie]

Originally Posted by Raymo

No. The lights are grounded near their mounting location, per instructions. The black wire joins the shielding and is grounded under the seat, along with the shielding from the power wires from the panel..

Ah, okay, that makes sense. I've got a grounding block I'm using for the panel components on the firewall itself, so that I can use a passthrough bolt to ground the engine to the firewall. I was assuming you did this as well, so I was asking if you had joined the two separate grounding blocks with a grounding wire. Sounds like this doesn't apply.

(The goal here would be to save some wiring and collect the grounds before running them all back on the same wire to the main forest of tabs.)

[Raymo]

Originally Posted by sritchie

Ah, okay, that makes sense. I've got a grounding block I'm using for the panel components on the firewall itself, so that I can use a passthrough bolt to ground the engine to the firewall. I was assuming you did this as well, so I was asking if you had joined the two separate grounding blocks with a grounding wire. Sounds like this doesn't apply.

(The goal here would be to save some wiring and collect the grounds before running them all back on the same wire to the main forest of tabs.)

I have the same firewall setup (FOT) and likely could have tied onto either the fuel pump or flap ground that I ran from the FOT but I've had no problem with the lights being grounded under the seat.