Fat wires and the pull test

LettersFromFlyoverCountry · #1 03-30-2010, 07:12 PM

Generally speaking, if something doesn't work out the way it should on my RV project, I assume it's something I've done wrong. But this evening, I'm a little concerned that that may not be the case.

I was reinstalling the fat wires on the battery, to power up the Vertical Power 50 system and test out my long-running installation of the radios in N614EF.

When I dug the ground wire (from battery to firewall) out of the work cabinet, where I'd stored it since removing it a month ago, I notice one connector was missing.

This is the P9 wire, which I bought from Van's because I didn't really want to build these things myself. So for about $15 a pop, I figured what the heck.

I twisted -- slightly -- the other connector and gave it a slight tug and off it came!

Then I checked the P14 (battery to master), slight tug.... voila! Both ends.

I checked another Van's cable I had around -- a P14, I believe, and the connectors did not seem to twist off.

Because there's heat shrink on these things, you can't really tell much about their construction until they come off, but I see no signs of solder and no signs of crimping. It looks like they just slapped a connector on, slapped some heat shrink on, and mailed it out.

Is this the way it's supposed to be? It's got me a little spooked that I could've been flying around, and had some pretty important cables fall apart.

Transporter · #2 03-30-2010, 07:26 PM

No, it's not the way it's supposed to be. Suggest you call Van's and advise them of the problem. They may have a bad batch on the loose.

Mike

Bill Wightman · #3 03-30-2010, 07:52 PM

Needless to say, Bob, I know of a really nice little tool that'll swage those terminals on so tight, you could hang the entire airplane off just one connection.

lancef53 · #4 03-30-2010, 07:56 PM

Are these new, or some older ones? There is a SB on this, but it is a couple years old.

LettersFromFlyoverCountry · #5 03-30-2010, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Wightman

Needless to say, Bob, I know of a really nice little tool that'll swage those terminals on so tight, you could hang the entire airplane off just one connection.

I'm buying.

LettersFromFlyoverCountry · #6 03-30-2010, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lancef53

Are these new, or some older ones? There is a SB on this, but it is a couple years old.

Bought them last year. Will post a video shortly showing how easily they pulled off.

alpinelakespilot2000 · #7 03-30-2010, 09:03 PM

I seem to remember that Van's provided a notice or service bulletin a year or two ago mentioning that they had a bad batch and that you should check them with a 50# pull test. My memory could be flawed though.

LettersFromFlyoverCountry · #8 03-30-2010, 09:12 PM

Well, here's the thing. Van's knows who bought these cables. Why not send out mail to those people to alert them. This is a pretty serious thing and I would think relying on people to go to the Van's site to see if maybe their product has a problem would seem an unreasonable burden on the builder.

The only SB I can find on it is this one. It's from October 2006. I purchased these last summer.

I guess my real problem is that someone was put in a job where he/she/it thought sticking a connector on a wire and sticking some heat shrink over it constituted properly construction technique. And that someone shoved it in the shipping container without likewise giving them a tug. Lousy quality control.

I just stuck a video up on the blog.

Stabird · #9 03-30-2010, 09:32 PM

Had the same problem a few years ago. Solution is simple. Solder the connectors.

LettersFromFlyoverCountry · #10 03-30-2010, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stabird

Had the same problem a few years ago. Solution is simple. Solder the connectors.

I tossed 'em out. I figure if this rather obvious defect slips through, I can't trust the quality of any aspect of it. I'll make my own, or order custom ones with a company I can trust -- B&C, for example.