Whelen strobe interconnect wire size

[sslayden]

Hi all. I was about to install the strobe interconnect wiring from my power supply to the strobe in the tail. However, I noticed a discrepency in the wire size provided in the HD-60-1 installation kit and the documentation that came with the strobes. The installation kit came with 60 feet of 18 awg, 3 conductor shielded wire, but the documentation for the strobes say to use 16 gauge. I purchaced the system 6 kit from vans that comes with the whelen hdacf power supply and a500/a650 strobes / nav lights.

So I emailed vans support and they say that they just ship what they get from Whelen. So I called Whelen and they said that they ship 16 awg wire. Well Vans is closed now so I could not follow up any further.

What is everyone else using?

[robertahegy]

The wire in the install kit worked fine. I used the system 6, also.

Roberta

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

The drawing on mine said 18G from the power supply.

[sslayden]

Roberta, do you remember if it was 16 or 18 awg? I'm wondering if they sent me the wrong wire.

Bob, which drawing are you referring to. The only reference I can find to the strobe wire size is on the A650PG nav lights. Is this from the Vans wiring kit? I didn't get that Also, are you using the same Whelen stuff (maybe some of the power supplies/lights are different)?

Thanks for the quick responses!

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

Possibly true re: different systems. I'm using the System 6 (Comet Flash) system. I referred to the sheets that came with the kit. But I also downloaded the installation and service manual from Whelen.
http://whelen.com/aviation/Avserman.pdf

And I just now noticed my error. I was referring to the power supply to the buss wire, which is 18g...not the shielded calbe...which is 16g. The Whelen sheet does, indeed, show a 16g wire that goes from the power supply to the strobe themselves. (See page 5 on pdf file above).

Oddly, though, this says the installation kit comes with the 16g wire....

But I just went down and looked at my wire (it's still in the box downstairs, I haven't wired the plane yet) and it says, too, that is is 18 AWG shielded type CM.

So, yeah, that is a discrepancy.

My power supply is HDACF. The drawing on page 7 confirms the 18g on the power input cable (as opposed to the output),. which obviously isnt' the issue here..

There's another quesiton I have, thogh, and maybe Roberta can help. All the documentation says jump pins 1 & 2 and the flash will alternate. (the jumper comes alreeady installed). But what I get is rather than

wingflash on/tail flash off
tail flash on/wingflash off
wingflash on/tail flash off

I get

wingflash and tail flash on
tail flash on/wingflash off
wingflash and tail flash on

So the tail flashes twice as often as the wings. I sent the power supply back to Whelen but they reported it tested fine. And I haven't seen any documentation that mentions anything BUT jumping pins 1 & 2. Remove the jumper altogether and only the tail strobe fires (presuming this would allow installing a switch to turn the wing strobes off without affecting the tail).

Anyway, I would think in this configuration, that tail strobe would get pretty darned hot.

[sslayden]

Thanks for double checking. I have the same power supply as you, HDACF. Another interesting note. When I called Whelen, the tech support guy ask how I knew that the cable from the HD-60-1 installation package was 18 awg. I responded, er, it's printed on the side of the wire. He says that the wire they send out is not marked with the wire size. I wonder if they changed this and we have older kits or if Vans 'makes' the kits? They both say that they just ship what Whelen provides.

Sorry, I can't provide any input on the rapid fire tail flashing issue But it's a good point... I'd assume the strobe assemblies are designed only to flash so often.

[az_gila]

There's another quesiton I have, thogh, and maybe Roberta can help. All the documentation says jump pins 1 & 2 and the flash will alternate. (the jumper comes alreeady installed). But what I get is rather than

wingflash on/tail flash off
tail flash on/wingflash off
wingflash on/tail flash off

I get

wingflash and tail flash on
tail flash on/wingflash off
wingflash and tail flash on

So the tail flashes twice as often as the wings. I sent the power supply back to Whelen but they reported it tested fine. And I haven't seen any documentation that mentions anything BUT jumping pins 1 & 2. Remove the jumper altogether and only the tail strobe fires (presuming this would allow installing a switch to turn the wing strobes off without affecting the tail).

Anyway, I would think in this configuration, that tail strobe would get pretty darned hot.

Bob.... could you have one of the wing stobe plugs swapped with the tail strobe plug at the power supply?

It looks like the tail strobe uses the "inner" plug on the supply...

gil in Tucson

[Bill Dicus]

Gil in Tuscon: Sorry it took so long to respond. Checked my strobes from Van's (option 6) and found supplied wire (already in wings) is F 106583 Shielded type CM CUL, AWG 18, like yours. I'll bet a lot of systems are operating with that wire. Are you changing? Anyway, with jumper in place my power pack flashed as follows (4 discharges per flash group): Tips (both), tail, tips (both), tail. Hookups on power pack. looking at terminals, were DC in, tail out, wing out, wing out. If yours is hooked up as noted, maybe your unit is defective. Hope this helps. Bill in Milwaukee

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

Thanks for checking. Very strange. No, the strobes are plugged into the proper position (on the bench). Thing is: I sent the unit back to Whelen over the summer with the problem noted and they sent it back saying it checked out fine. Very odd.

[PJSeipel]

I have the same flash pattern (problem) with mine. Same system, same setup. On mine, it flashes correctly for about 2-3 minutes and then switches to the tail strobe flashing every time. The tail strobe does indeed get exceedingly hot. After 15 minutes, it is too hot to touch (will blister your skin, ask me how I know).

Not sure what to do about it yet. I'm concerned that on a hot day I could melt the insulation on the wiring.

PJ
RV-10 #40032