RV-8 Aft Battery Location Cable/Conduit

[Doug94]

I've been able to find some conduit info but not exactly what my question is right now.

1. With an aft battery location should the cable be run in conduit?
2. For those of you that have run the aft location (using Odtyssey PC680 - seems to be the battery of choice), how long of a piece of cable have you used?

Thanks for your ongoing thoughts...

Doug
Builder in training

[Bubblehead]

Mine's not run in conduit, but does have poly tubing over it for chafe protection and of course adle clamps. I do not know how long the cable ended up.

There seems to be a second aft location that I wish I had used. Mine is under the baggage shelf like most but I recently saw pictures of an Odyssey in a battery box in the next bay aft. I'm 240 lbs and my -8 has a constant speed prop so runs up near the front of the cg envelope when I fly solo. As light as the PC680 is, moving it back a couple more feet would probably help at least a little. I should do the math to see how much though.

Which position are you planning on using?

[Transporter]

Given:

Stock aft location with Van's mount.
Master contactor on the aft edge of the mount.
Starter contactor on the left vertical angle rivet line on the firewall per the firewall drawing.

Finished wire length is 126" from master contactor to starter contactor. This is Van's circuit P1 for the aft battery configuration, routed along the left side baggage area/floor ribs, through the spar center section and left side gear box (on the 8). Exits the firewall on the left edge (mine had a pre-punched hole, but locations are shown on the firewall and wiring drawings from Van's).

I crimped the battery terminal on first and fed the cable forward. #2 is very stiff and you'll need to rotate the cable to get the best orientation for the battery terminal connection. Adel clamps to secure in between the bulkheads. I crimped the starter contactor terminal after feeding through the firewall using a "Terminal Tool" clamped in my Workmate.

Good luck,
Mike

[Ironflight]

My aft-mounted Odyssey is in the standard van's location. I used #2 welding cable which is extremely flexible and has a very thick insulation layer, so didn't use conduit - just Adel Clamps for security and support. I probably bought fifteen feet of cable and got a funny look from the guy as to why I wanted something so short....

Paul

[panhandler1956]

I ran conduit to my rear mounted battery, but I ended up taking it out as the #2 wouldn't feed down through it. I used ultra flex #2awg welding wire too and I plan to just use adel clamps. One thing I considered was if the wire did get hot for any reason (it shouldn't), the conduit will just be another source of more smoke and melted plastic. I used 14' but it was barely enough. I ran it down the right side under the floor boards and then up through the right gear tower across the z brace and fwd to the firewall.

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