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crabandy

Well Known Member
I'm trying to get a wiring list together for my wings and will probably order and install Van's (LL 7/8 MR-16) wingtip landing/taxi light kit. What gauge wire does it require, tech help couldn't find the specs.
I have the standard Whelen strobe/nav combo, archer ant in wingtip, stripped coax marker beacon in wingtip, and landing lights for wiring runs through the wings. I was told a local ground should work fine for the nav and landing lights, but should run the strobe cable in separate runs.
If i want to install HID or LED landing taxi lights at a later time would it be better to run a ground back to a grounding block?
Thanks,
Andy
 
AC43-13 wire size chart

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/list/AC%2043.13-1B/$FILE/Chapter%2011.pdf

Page 11-30 has a chart showing wire gauge based on current and distance.

As for grounds, there is no perfect answer. I would not bother running them unless you notice noise in your headset after they are installed.
 
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I used #18 AWG for everything except the landing lights. For those I used #14.
Strobe came with its own cable.
Like you I grounded the returns locally, except for the strobe. I bundled everything together including the strobe cable, and I have no ground loop noise on my audio.
I have just ordered DuckWorks HID landing lights, and I am concerned about noise - not audio, but rather RF pickup by the Archer antenna. We'll see.
 
Whelen strobes/nav, marker beacon, duckworks hid's, tt ap, trim wiring all ran in same bundle. Airframe ground everywhere. If engine is not running I can hear when hid's power up for the first 10 sec and also a slight noise when strobes are triggered. If I am listening to g430w nav, I can hear strobes in flight. Nothing I would change. I ran 14 ga for each hid on a 10a fuse. I ran a spare 18ga wire to each tip, which I have not had to use.
 
LED Wire Gauge

What gauge wire do the LED lights require? I haven't bought the LED yet and I'm not seeing the current flow data on line. I'm hearing they draw less then 1 amp so will 24 gauge wire be sufficient for the tail light/strobe if it is an LED? I'm hoping to use Stein's 5 wire bundle to run back there for the tail light.
 
crabandy said:
I'm trying to get a wiring list together for my wings and will probably order and install Van's (LL 7/8 MR-16) wingtip landing/taxi light kit. What gauge wire does it require, tech help couldn't find the specs.
I have the standard Whelen strobe/nav combo, archer ant in wingtip, stripped coax marker beacon in wingtip, and landing lights for wiring runs through the wings. I was told a local ground should work fine for the nav and landing lights, but should run the strobe cable in separate runs.
If i want to install HID or LED landing taxi lights at a later time would it be better to run a ground back to a grounding block?
Thanks,
Andy
Click to expand...

12 volt MR-16 bulbs come in several different wattages, which one does Van use?

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/001/CTGY/MR16WV

This one may be best for landing, and at 75 watts will draw over 6 amps...

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/001/PROD/MR16-75W12V/75W12VSP10H
 
Installed Duckworks HID lights today. Grounded to rib. No extra noise on the Archer antenna in the same wingtip.
 
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Thanks for the replies, I decided to run 18 awg for nav, 14 awg for ldg/taxi (75 watt bulb), and a single 14 awg for ground back at the firewall. I ran the wires/strobes together and the coax for archer antenna in a seperate run.
 
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