[tmendy]

Hi folks,

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but I would appreciate opinions on realistic ballpark time in terms of man hours to build an RV6 Skyview panel including the normal stuff, then installing it and doing all the wiring and pito stuff:

2 Skyview screens
2 Ahars
Arinc
430W
engine monitor
Audio panel
transponder
circuit breakers
switches, etc.

I'm debating on whether to try to tackle it or have a proven firm like Steinair do it

 

[YellowJacket RV9]

My panel is not quite as complex (GRT Sport, GTR200, GTX327, Dynon D10), but it really is just one wire at a time, as people say. Mine is 85% done, and I would say I have about 30-40 hours in it. I started with Van's harness which saved time on many of the standard connections, but there is still plenty left to fabricate on your own.

Study, study, study the wiring diagrams and then build your own complete diagram showing how everything goes together and interconnects. Have plenty of wire, connectors, terminals, etc, and then just go one wire at a time, labeling everything.

Personally, I have enjoyed the process and the satisfaction that comes with powering everything up afterwards, but then I spent 6 years studying electrical engineering so I am weird. But when you wire your own, and something stops working down the road, you will be much more comfortable troubleshooting it. You can also set things up with future access in mind.

Chris

 

[GalinHdz]

...but it really is just one wire at a time, as people say. Mine is 85% done, and I would say I have about 30-40 hours in it. Chris

I have almost the exact setup as you plan but I used the Approach FastStack system which saved a lot of time on the installation. But even so there is still a lot to do on your own. As YellowJacket said:

Study, study, study the wiring diagrams and then build your own complete diagram showing how everything goes together and interconnects. Have plenty of wire, connectors, terminals, etc, and then just go one wire at a time, labeling everything.

I can't emphasize how important it is to have all the diagrams made up before you start and update them as you go along since you will probably make changes during the installation. I also enjoyed doing the work but I am also an electrical engineering so I too am weird.

So it just depends on how much time you are willing to spend learning and doing this part. It is completely doable.

 

[rockwoodrv9]

I just received my panel from Stein on Thursday. After looking at it and the miles of wire and connections, I know I made the right choice having it built by them. It is a work of beauty seeing how organized and well laid out it all is and how exacting it is all assembled.

There will still be plenty of work for me to do hooking all the lights, flaps, servos, and it feels like an endless amount of wires that I won't feel like I didn't do anything.

Stein gave me the options of how much I wanted them to do with a price for each option. There was no hard sell or even soft sell. I chose some of them and I am doing some. Im sure all the panel builders are great and do fine work but I only have experience with Stein and it was as good as I hoped.

PM me if you have specific questions or want some photos. Best of luck whatever way you go with your panel.

 

[Jrskygod]

It ain't easy

Wiring the panel components and the avionics is the easy part. It's doing all the airframe, autopilot, engine and all of the other stuff that is a time killer. As previously mentioned do your homework, do your connection diagrams, study your layout and decide where things are going to go and how you are going to get there. Buy more supplies than you think you will need. If you are well prepared you will spend as much time preparing as doing the install. Order as much to have on hand before you start work. Consider having a vendor do the harnesses for the main and expensive components. It's real hard to put the smoke back into a skyview display or anything made by garmin. The companies have all worked real hard to make this stuff as easy as possible to install. The documentation is very good and fairly easy to understand. The tech support is there to help as well but be aware that you will be on hold for a long time because I will be on there trying to get all of this stuff talking to each other or trying to figure out why there is a loud noise in the headset when I open the canopy or other such nonsense. As others have said its just one wire at a time, just figure out ahead of time where those wires go and what they do. One last word of advice - get a block tine rate with a chiropractor and masseuse-you will need them.

 

[rwtalbot]

The 430W and intercom would be the killer. I'd estimate 3-400 hours of work once you plan it. John stark did my looms for all the Garmin gear. There was still plenty of work left for me as I installed radio, switches, EFIS etc and cut the panel.

Cost $800-$1000 for the looms. That was some of the best money I spent on the project. I couldn't have done a job that good and it has never let me down in 500 hours. No doubt any of the other dealers such as Stein would be just as good.

Keep in mind there is no warranty from some of the manufacturers if the dealer does not wire the loom.

 

[larrynew]

I have the same panel including the 430W but I used VP-X Pro for the circuit breakers. Took 6 months working on almost nothing else to get it 99% complete and 100% functional and tested. The 1% was just tidying up wiring bundles and minor misc. Working part time maybe 15 hrs per week. About half of that time was spent studying how to do things. I would do it again exactly the same.

 

[Yen]

Can't help with times for you, but I am changing my panel in the RV4. Just putting a garmin 196 into the panel and it needs a big cut and rebuild. I did not keep a millimetre perfect drawing of the existing panel and it is not easy to measure it all up in situ, so I suggest that whatever you do, keep accurate records of the location of everything.