electrical systems for dummies

[prkaye]

Since I've never done anything more than replacing a battery in my car, I've been wondering how I'm going to obtain the knowledge required to design my RV electrical system. I've read most of "The Aeroelectric Connection" by Bob Nuckoll's, but this is mostly in-depth discussions about specific components (whole chapters on antennas, switches, batteries, etc).
I've examined electrical system diagrams of a couple of other builders, and much of what i see baffles me. I don't need another introduction to electricity... i know the basics of electronics theory (i know ohm's law, i know what resistors capacitors and inductors do, i know about reactance and resistance and impedance...), what I do need is a good introduction to how the overal system is laid out for a typical RV electrical system. What the main parts are and how they all fit together. Something maybe that goes through from the simplest electrical system diagram, to progressively more complex systems, explaining how to interpret the diagrams and what everything on them means and why all the components are where they are in the system.
Anybody have a good reference for this?

[Mel]

Phil, Get a copy of Tony Bingelis' "Firewall Forward", "Sportplane Construction Techniques" and "The Sportplane Builder". He goes through some good basic electrical systems. Bob Nuckolls has some good stuff, but in my opinion goes WAY overboard on emergency backup and redundant systems. There is no need for much of this in a basic homebuilt aircraft. KISS!
(Donning flame suit now.)

[johnp]

he's having one in houston in october.

http://www.aeroelectric.com/seminars/seminars.html

[craigvince]

I took the SportAir workshop on Electrical and Avionics. It was a 2-day workshop, with about 20 builders. It was hands-on, and very worthwhile. I would highly recommend it.

[prkaye]

Unfortunately, I live way up in Ottawa Canada, so most of these workshops aren't convenient to get to. The closest US city is Watertown NY (2.5 hour drive).

[Ironflight]

I second the idea of Tony Bingellis's books Phil - they show some very basic electrical systems that can help you think "from the ground up". Knuckool's book is good, but not really organized to help someone understand the systems in a building block fashion.

Paul

[pczar3]

Hi Phil,
It sounds like you are most of the way to where you want to get! If you understand all the basics, the only real trick is to understand the current demands of the equipment you are going to install and any interconnect wiring between radio's and indicators etc. The schematics at the back of Bob's book are pretty easy and they progress from the simplest to the more complicated. So... write down everything electrical that will be in your plane including lights, seat warmers, whatever. Start to draw simple interconnect drawings between the radio's and the indicators (localizer glideslope what ever you plan to use). Make the big decision on fuses or breakers (that usually will start a war of words but it is a personnal choice). Pay attention to any leads that need to be shielded for noise attenuation (ARINC OBS pots, mike audio etc. and never ground the shield at both ends!) Continue to refine your system drawing until you have a set of drawings that will lead you thru the wiring process. In my humble opinion, paying attention to grounding and shielding is the biggest part of the job. You can always ask for help here! If you have any other questions just ask!

Paul Czarapata (yes I'm an EE)
N694BP reserved

[rleffler]

Originally Posted by prkaye

Unfortunately, I live way up in Ottawa Canada, so most of these workshops aren't convenient to get to. The closest US city is Watertown NY (2.5 hour drive).

You're welcome to join us in Columbus, OH on December 1st. It will be held at KOSU and should be a short flight from Ottawa.

http://www.aeroelectric.com/seminars/Columbus.html

[prkaye]

Thanks guys,

I do have the Bingellis books, so I'll take another look. I do recall I wasn't
satisfied with his book on engines. It seemed to be a collection of tips for installing various things, but not a good overview/introduction of how the engine and all it accessories work together.

I've been looking at electrical drawings of one builder. I understand that the "main bus" is basically to distribute power to everything. I gather that the "essential bus" is a separate strip for things that you can't afford to lose. Each instrument/light/radio/etc only gets powered off one of the buses, is that right? Or is the idea that only one of the buses is "on" at a given time, and essential things are normally powered by the main bus, but you switch to the essential bus if you need to conserve power?

Then, what is the "Battery hot bus" ?

[prkaye]

Actually, I just looked at Appendix Z of The Aeroelectric connection book, and this looks like it will help a lot! Curious that this is the appendix, and not an introductory chapter (after getting all the way through to the chapter on Antennas, I had basically given up that htis book would give me the bigger-picture overview stuff... but there it is in the appendix). I'm travelling for the rest of the week, so I'll read this appendix and look at the example schematics while i'm away and see where i get from there.