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walkergp

Member
Getting ready to start wiring fuselage. Wanted to know if Van's wiring kits/harnesses are worthwhile or just buy piecemeal. Planning basic VFR with Dynon Skyview.

Thanks,
Greg Walker
 
I bought the wiring harness because it had the vast majority of wire sizes needed and one end is already luged. I broke the harness apart and used the wires per my wiring diagram. It's nice to have the starter/battery cables which are already made up. I thought it was worth it.
 
rv9av8tr said:
I bought the wiring harness because it had the vast majority of wire sizes needed and one end is already luged. I broke the harness apart and used the wires per my wiring diagram. It's nice to have the starter/battery cables which are already made up. I thought it was worth it.
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That's exactly what I did. It was nice having a starting point. 2c
 
1st time round - used theirs and had to split it all up.

This time - started from scratch and had the main heavy cables made up locally - main battery cable using #2 welding cable which is much more flexible and easier to use.

I would just get stuck in, order specific cables if necessary and get others made locally.

It is daunting, but sketch it all out, sort your main user groups out, reference to the Van's wiring print and all should be OK.
 
rv9av8tr said:
I bought the wiring harness because it had the vast majority of wire sizes needed and one end is already luged. I broke the harness apart and used the wires per my wiring diagram. It's nice to have the starter/battery cables which are already made up. I thought it was worth it.
Click to expand...


I did the same thing. Van's wiring harness is setup for a simple, non-EFIS electrical system. It made me wish Van's would sell a wiring kit that includes the major wires, ground strap, etc. and a bunch of wire of different sizes.

As for installing the SkyView...

What worked for me was to buy a couple of their "hubs" and some patch cables. One hub was mounted right next to the pitch servo which allowed me to plug a patch cord going forward into it, the pitch servo, and two ADHRS units.

On the sub-panel I mounted a second hub that allowed me to secure the patch cord from the rear hub, the roll servo, the EMS module, etc.


Here is a thread on my panel upgrade, if you want to seem some pictures.
 
I did as well. I had no prior experience with electrical and though I reviewed Bob Knuckles book and other builders, I only confused my self. Needed some basic hand holding and the wire kit was the answer. I can see why many dont like it as its not updated for new gadgets anthe like, but I liked having a written instruction and a schematic to start with. I will warn you, Vans spared no expense on any extra length in their harness. Hey, Its only money!...right??
Good luck with what ever you decide.
 
If you are doing exactly what is laid out in the Van's wiring diagram their harness or kit is fine.

If you are doing any thing different you are probably better to buy the components from somewhere like Stein. Also running one wire at a time seems easier somehow and you can personalize where things go.

I bought the wiring kit and ended up buying probably 5x more wire and components. I still have quite a bit of the wiring kit left over, sizes I didn't need.

If I were to do it again I would just get the components, but then my wiring looks nothing like Van's...
 
If you DIY from components you can add some color coding.

Even just making power wires red and all grounds black will greatly simplify any trouble shooting you need to do in the future.
 
Greg,

I'm with Gil, there are enough smart guys at work who can help figure out the wiring diagram - I would buy the wire (and possibly a couple of harnesses) from Stein. Then you can adopt whatever colour coding takes your fancy. Yellow for databus, blue for instrument lighting, etc. All helps with troubleshooting in years to come. Glad to hear you're still making progress.

Peter
 
I just noticed you are using the Skyview.

The color coding is already done in the Skyview harness and will greatly simplify the hook up of all of your sensors.

If you get a custom harness for the avionics from Stein or similar you will find 90% of the difficult stuff will have already been done.

I made my own Skyview bus cables just because I can, but the saving is probably small over purchasing them. Buy a bus hub though, it will simplify the cable connections.
 
Like others, cut the harness apart and used most of it. Bought another 100' #14 for wiring the landing and taxi lights as well as a couple more breaker switches. #2 Battery cables are provided whether you are building a 6,7,8, or 9 with batteries in various locations. I returned 6 or 7 of those cables for credit. Not going to use it? Send it back.
 
My vote would be build your own harnesses. It really isn't that hard with the wiring diagrams out there. I think the best way is to set up a wire schematic for each component with colored wire and a label tape you can put on the wire and mark with a fine Sharpie.

It is intimidating at first, but figured if I can build an airplane, I can follow a well documented wiring harness diagram and do it myself. Of course if you go that way and you get into the mini d-sub connectors (or reg for that matter), etc, it helps to have the right (and sometimes expensive) tools. Or, have a buddy who has the right tools.
 
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Sorry for the slow response - busy week at work. Thanks for all the great advice. What is the best source of wiring schematics? I don't have the finish kit yet.
Thanks,
Greg Walker
Aledo, TX
 
What I used

http://www.1728.org/project2.htm ; this one copied from Matt's info http://www.rv7blog.com/files/20070923_electrical_system.pdf ; Bob Nuckolls book The Aero-Electric Connection is a must read; and finally I used Randy's web site (but I just pulled it up and Chrome said Malware, so use at own risk?) http://www.pflanzer-aviation.com/WiringDiagrams.html#Individual Drawings There are a lot of other good websites (links) builders have that I found on VAF through the search feature concerning electrical info (and the many other categorizes too).
 
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