Van's Wiring Harness Kit's Worthwhile?

[tomagin]

With the basic fuselage done and the need to start in on wiring I'm wondering if Van's wiring harness, in my case for the RV-8, is value for money in terms of speed of installation and whether it is really expandable and upgradable enough. So far the feedback I see is many choose not to use it, send it back or just prefer to do it themselves. My 8 will be IFR with most all the bells and whistles.

[frankh]

For my RV7 but to be honest I wouldn't use it again.

A lot of money for stuff that in the end I couldn't use.

Frank

[Allen231ah]

I bought one ,and used very little of the kit . I think about the only parts used were the battery cables, they will save some time .
I did buy a DC load center , I think that was well worth the money . Really after you get into the electrical stuff it isn't all that hard . A buddy and fellow builder said it well " a wire only has 2 ends " just take them one at a time and hook em up . Take your time, check your work b/4 applying power, once the smoke gets out it's hard to get it back in

[Gary Bricker]

I bought it and like others used very little. I would not do it again.

[Kevin Horton]

Van's wiring kit only makes sense if you plan to wire the aircraft exactly has defined in the wiring diagram that comes with it. If you want to make more than just minimal changes from Van's design, or relocate some items, you'll probably find that the kit isn't worth the money.

[JonJay]

I agree, the kit in itself is not worth the money. But for me on the 6, I did find that it was a good starting point. I used the large cables, and the basic skeleton to the wing root and flap motor, and ran much of the harness to a terminal block for connection to my switches and systems.
No, I would not buy it again, but I do not regret buying it. It saved me on the high power side (you will need to borrow a heavy duty crimper to do the big stuff), and the fact that all of the little stuff like insulator boots and the like was there. So, I used more than most seem to have found use for.

[Jim P]

Just to give Stein a plug, I bought one of his kits and that seems to work well. I didn't use all the stuff, but overall it seemed pretty good. YMMV.

[MCA]

Tom,

I used Van's harness when originally wiring my plane, but it is designed for a basic steam gauge panel.

The Vertical Power wiring harness has almost everything you need to wire the plane (power, trim, flaps) except for contactors and fat wires. Wires are labelled, and over-length flying leads so it's easy to drop in to any configuration. And it's easy to modify if needed, as no two planes are alike.

[flybill7]

The wiring harness kit was part of the Firewall Forward Kit I ordered for my 7. I would echo what Kevin said -- it is really only useful if you follow Van's drawings exactly. I'm using AeroElectric Connection diagram #11 with the fuse buses so 90% of the wiring harness is useful only for the stock wire -- which I had already bought, unfortunately, and the few terminals.

The only thing I am using out of the wiring harness are the following big cables:

Battery(+) to Master relay
Battery(-) to Ground
Engine to Battery ground
Alternator cable
Starter cable

It was nice not having to make these big cables but not worth the $350 wiring harness kit. Order the drawings separately though; they have a lot of useful information. For example, the flap switch wiring.

[jsharkey]

I used the kit and have found it very useful so far - although my electrics are still a work in progress. I've used most of the parts although several of the big cables were redundant for my "by the plans" RV6 installation - the kit covers all RV configurations.

(I'll get a list of the spare parts - They are free to a good home! - private message me.)

One thing - some of the big cable lug swages were inadequate and failed a pull test. These were replaced by Van's before I realized I didn't need them - but then again I had paid for them!

Having learned though I'd probably do it my self the next time around

Mind you having said that I work in the aerospace industry and most of the big guys use third party companies to "kit" materiel for delivery straight to the assembly line ready for use. They pay a premium but get what they need when they need it - and they don't have to suffer the cash flow needed to cover slow moving stock or excess material. The "kitter" spreads these costs over many customers and hopefully makes a profit in the process. That's Van's "canny" business model too.

Jim Sharkey
RV6 Tip-Up O360-A1A FP