Scott Will

Scott Will

Well Known Member
Silly or stupid question - you decide...

How much room is there between the wing and fuse once they are mated? While building my QB, I left wires protruding the fuse and I want to put connectors on them. Basically my question is... how long should I leave the wires coming from the fuse and wings?

We can discuss the merits of wing root disconnects another time - this is how I did it for several reasons.
 
Not much room at all. Definitely not enough room to get two hands in. I see most people putting the disconnects in the fuselage. But then I see those same airplanes having connectors that don't fit through the snap bushings they use. So there's nothing "quick" about those connectors. I don't get it!
 
Like Dan said it is tight, probably 2". But if you need a connector that will fit and still be able to work with then I suggest Dean connectors.

-Jeff

deansplugs.jpg
 
RV_7A said:
Like Dan said it is tight, probably 2". But if you need a connector that will fit and still be able to work with then I suggest Dean connectors.
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You wouldn't see a non-positive-locking connector on my plane, particularly in an area you can't reach.
 
RV_7A said:
You've never had your hands on these connectors then...
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I used 'em on RC stuff. If there's one lesson I've learned in all of this homebuilt airplane flying stuff it's -- if it CAN move, it WILL.

How do you secure those connectors in the wing root? I'm sure there's a fine way, but I don't see the point behind the complexity of connectors. Does it really save that much build time to be able to "wire" the wings and "wire" the fuselage and just join 'em later? ...as opposed to leaving pigtails hanging out the side of the fuselage until you mate the wings for good? It literally takes like 20 minutes to finish the wiring after mating the wings if you just leave long pigtails out the side of the fuselage.

I'm playing devil's advocate here. I know I'm in the minority. Everybody wants these connectors in the wing root. It makes them feel better about something. What that is, I have no idea!! I personally feel better knowing there isn't a connector out there.
 
Knife splice connectors with some shrink tubing. Soooo cheap and there's no way they're wiggling loose.
 
Sorry Jeff, no Deans connector for me, especially in this area ... used them all the time in RC but not on the full size.

Again, I hoped 'why' wing root disconnects wouldn't come up but it did. I'm building my plane in a limited space environment at home. Wanted to proceed with as much stuff as I could before moving to the airport. I don't plan on taking the wings on and off just for fun - I hope to put them on one time only! I've got most all the electrical done and feel good that I dont have to snake any more wires through the fuselage.

I know lots of local guys that have wing root disconnects and don't feel bad about doing it that way.

 
If you put a connector strip inside the fuselage, bring the wing wires in and connect them. If you ever have to remove the wings (hopefuly not) just disconnect the wires from the strip and let the wires hang. See a picture on Dan's web site here:

http://www.rvproject.com/trutrak.html

This still allows you to complete all the wiring at home. good luck.
 
I used connectors for some of the wiring (lights) but left some slack wire so I could pull the connector up out of the root area to be able to connect them. You could either leave them lying like that, or pull the slack into the wing tip and coil it into a service loop. If the connector won't fit into your conduit, then pull the rest of the slack into the fuselage. If you ever pull the wings, you can pull the slack back out to get at the connectors.
For other wires, like strobe and servo wiring, I left a service loop in the either the fuselage or wing tip so that, in the event I ever had to remove the wings, I could cut the cable and still have plenty for a connector.
I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do this...just different ways.
 
I think Dan has a good point on the '20 minutes' thing.

I built my (admittedly QB ;)) RV in one bay of a two car garage. I never had the wings on before the plane went to the airport.

I just left long wiring runs from the fuse looped up and taped to the side of the fuse until final assembly. Hooking up the wires (even including putting on the DB-9 for the roll servo and connectors for the wingtip antennas) was a few hours work and no worries about connectors. Super fast and easy.

The other finishing tasks at the airport are far more time consuming - wires will be the least of your worries.
 
Wing root connectors

I'll get a picture tomorrow of my connectors. My wings are off for painting so I can get a clear shot. I have two BNC's on the left wing and a 3 pin Molex. The right has one BNC and a 3 pin Molex.

The Molex handles the Strobe, landing light and position light power. (They are locally grounded at the tip rib and yes, my radios are crystal clear).

There is not much room for the connection. The fuselage connections are basically right at the fuselage. The connectors from the wing get pulled lightly to make the connection. They retract into the conduit when the wing is attached. Before sliding the wing on I used some zip ties on the Molex. The BNC's were wrapped with silicon tape. They don't have much room to move. All other BNC's in the plane have a piece of heat shrink over them.

Regarding the Deans connectors, I have 4 of them in my plane, flap sensor connector, flap motor, EL lighting strip, and my elevator trim wiring. All were wrapped with heat shrink after connection and were secured in a manner they can't work loose. Also have a standard Futaba male/female servo connector for my fuel flow transducer.

I think Deans connectors are far superior to the Molex. If I could have easily soldered the Deans at the wing connections (replacing the Molex) I would have. The Deans are gold pins and fit great. I have used Deans in RC models for 40 years and have never had one come undone!!

The easy fix to secure Deans for piece of mind is to tie the two halves in a loose knot, connect and then secure the knot and connector with heat shrink. You can use these with confidence. After all how much stuff do you have in your plane from Radio Shack? The fact that Radio Shack 'doesn't' sell Deans is a reason to use them. :rolleyes:
 
Digikey.com

You want a small form factor locking plug? I bet Digikey.com has something that will work! Go to their site and request a catalog, its a thick sucker!
All kinds of stuff in there!

Britt
 
Scott:

I crossed that bridge myself by using terminal strips instead of connectors. I mounted a 7-wire terminal strip on the side of the fuse under each seat. All ship wires (stobe -4 wires, nav-1 and landing light-1 and 1 for growth) run to the board. I left about 18 inches extra on the wing wires to make the connection when mounted. I have a single, fuselage mounted strobe power supply. Fast on terminals make removeal a snap. I am using a connector for the A/P servo harness and will probably make one from d-subs.

You could mount the strip to the outside of the fuse in the root area: mox-nix. You still need to remove the seat floor to remove a wing so I thought inside was the best solution.

I initially planned a connector but decided the strip would be both easier to mount and more reliable.

Jekyll
 
How far is it from the fuselage where the fuel pipe exits to the tip of the connector? Normal, non flop tube tanks, just wondering how long the fuel tube should be, roughly, from the fuselage to the tank.

Jeff, you recently completed this, any thoughts?
 
Connections photos

Here are a couple of photos of the connectors on my 7. Keep in mind there is not much room and definitely don't set stuff to go high as most run the conduit along the bottom of the spar. Also is a picture of the Deans Ultra connector I used for my EL strip panel lighting.
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