Wiring runs for the wings

[jdmunzell]

Hi guys:

I need to drill some holes in my wing ribs for wiring runs using that black corrogated plastic conduit. I've talked to a couple of guys, but curious what the rest of you did as far as placement and issues with riveting the wing skins on later. I know I need to keep away from the pitot line run and the pushrod tubes. Vans plans suggest using a tooling hole but that looks like it would interfere with the pitot line as it makes a 90 degree turn and heads out the bottom of the wing.

Jeff
-8 wings

[Rene Bubberman]

Hi Jeff,

I used the position suggested by Van's. No interference with other runs. Making the holes in a QB wing is quite a chore though. In hindsight I would have used a unibit-with-click-on-elongator you can buy from Harbor freight.
For details see: http://websites.expercraft.com/PHVII...ry&log_id=2964

[mgomez]

Has anybody used the rib lightening holes to run conduit? It would take adel clamps or some such to attach them to the ribs. You'd have to be careful to not interfere with the aileron pushrod.

[alpinelakespilot2000]

Originally Posted by jdmunzell

Hi guys:
I need to drill some holes in my wing ribs for wiring runs using that black corrogated plastic conduit. I've talked to a couple of guys, but curious what the rest of you did as far as placement and issues with riveting the wing skins on later. I know I need to keep away from the pitot line run and the pushrod tubes. Vans plans suggest using a tooling hole but that looks like it would interfere with the pitot line as it makes a 90 degree turn and heads out the bottom of the wing.
Jeff
-8 wings

On the RV9 there is no significant potential for interference with the pitot location if you use Van's recommended location. I can't imagine it would be much different on the other models. The conduit hole is far enough away from the spar to make this a non-issue in my own experience. The lightening holes with adel clamps would work too (and are consistent with Van's instructions), but obviously the forward lightening hole could not be used since the pushrod goes through there. One other advantage to using Van's recommended location is that it seems to match pretty well with the location of the holes that are in the adjoining seat ribs through which those same wires must run. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[rjsflyer]

Here's how I ran the conduit in my -9A.

http://www.rjsflyer.com/rv9a/lwing10.htm

Rick Schwandt
RV-9A Fuse
www.rjsflyer.com

[gmcjetpilot]

Originally Posted by mgomez

Has anybody used the rib lightening holes to run conduit? It would take adel clamps or some such to attach them to the ribs. You'd have to be careful to not interfere with the aileron pushrod.

Martin I did it on my first RV-4. It works great. I had some "aerospace" surplus angle/standoffs that I attached the adel clamp. I used some light weight thin walled poly tube as a conduit. I loved it, but it was more work, more parts and no doubt a little more weight. On my current project I am going to follow my own advice: stick to the plans.

QUESTION:

In each of my wing tips: Strobe Pack, Nav Light, Landing/recognition lights. Each of these items take 2, 3 and 4 amps each.

What about running ONE big positive wire out to the wing tip for ALL lights!;
using automotive relays (small, inexpensive, light wt. 30 amp Bosch) to control individual lights?

This would require only light wt. small 22 awg "control wires" to the relays, which need only milliamps to trip latch. The single BIG wire will be more efficient. You can buy 10 of the relays with harness for $20 on eBay. You could also use small toggle switches in the panel since they are switching mA not Amps. Weight wise I guess there is not advantage. Also this would interfere with using a central Wig-Wag device for the wing recognition lights. I guess I talked myself out of it? WHAT YA THINK? Yay or Nay


George

[mgomez]

Originally Posted by gmcjetpilot

What about running ONE big positive wire out to the wing tip for ALL lights!;
using automotive relays (small, inexpensive, light wt. 30 amp Bosch) to control individual lights?


George

George,

The only possible downside (aside from failure modes) is that the various loads in the wingtip will now be coupled by the voltage drop in that single big wire. If the landing light is on, for instance, your nav lights will be slightly dimmer. Conceivably, the strobes' flashes could show up in dimmer landing lights, etc. The effect might be too small to notice.

Anyway, that's the reason I'm running a bunch of small wires (both power and ground) for each of the wingtip loads. Anal retentive? Yeah, I know...