Bundling wires and pitot lines?

szicree · #1 11-03-2005, 02:26 PM

Is there any reason or rule that says I shouldn't bundle my nylon pitot line and coax antenna leads together? Thanks.

Steve Zicree
RV4 Wires (and tubing)

f1rocket · #2 11-03-2005, 02:41 PM

No, and go ahead and throw your position light, strobe, and landing light wires in there too. None of these are noise propogators.

RudiGreyling · #3 11-03-2005, 11:54 PM

Hi Guys,

I saw this thread "Bundling wires and pitot lines" and was hoping it was going to show me how, but unfortenately it did not, so please excuse while I piggy back on this topic...

I know (have read here on the forum) there are 2 mehtods to run the wires in the wings, grommets and conduit. Conduit is straight forward the wires just go inside, just very difficult to pull the ribbed conduit through the ribs.

I have both at my disposal and need to decide which way to go SOON.

My questions are:
1) How do you bundle and tie the wires to keep them together if you use the grommet route..any pics?
2) What is the pros and cons for each way?
3) What wires need to be seperate from each other?

Thank you in advance.

Kind Regards
Rudi

f1rocket · #4 11-04-2005, 06:40 AM

Rudi,

I did grommets on my RV-6 and conduit on my F1 Rocket. I would recommend the conduit. You have easier access to the wires and if you ever have to pull more wires, you can. So if you add a heated pitot tube or magnetometer later, you can do that. Just drill the holes up so that the conduit fits easily and add a dab of RTV to each rib to hold it firmly in place.

The grommets work fine and if you never have to reach the wires again, there's no problem.

RudiGreyling · #5 11-09-2005, 07:00 AM

Thanx F1Rocket.

DGlaeser · #6 11-09-2005, 07:17 AM

I just finished my second wing, and ran the ribbed conduit through holes I had put in the ribs. Originally I had made the holes 3/4" (Van's recommendation in a note somewhere - I didn't get the conduit until the construction was almost done). But it is almost impossible to pull the conduit through those holes. Even 13/16" doesn't work. I ended up making them 7/8" and that works fine, but the conduit is 'looser' in the holes and definitely needs some goop to hold it from chafing.

Now the problem is that I still have the 3/4" holes in the first wing! The good news is that I found an extender at Home Depot that fits my Unibit, so I can open up the holes in the completed wing. One of those 'lessons learned' for the next time...

Dennis Glaeser
7A Wings (done - working on ailerons and flaps)

Davepar · #7 11-09-2005, 09:39 AM

You might try just heating up the conduit a bit in the oven. I've heard it softens up when warm and can be pulled easily through the 3/4" holes.