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Wires Held By Wire Mounts

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skelrad

Well Known Member
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Super basic question - I am using wire mounts glued to the skin to take wires back to the tail. Since there are only a few wires going to the very back, the diameter of the "bundle" is pretty small. When I zip tie the wires to the mounts there is still some wiggle room because the base where the tie goes through is a little wider than the wires. For these situations, do I need to wrap the wires with something to increase the diameter so the zip tie can actually grab on to them and hold them solid? I have smaller mounts, but I prefer the larger adhesive surface area of the bigger mounts.

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skelrad said:
Super basic question - I am using wire mounts glued to the skin to take wires back to the tail. Since there are only a few wires going to the very back, the diameter of the "bundle" is pretty small. When I zip tie the wires to the mounts there is still some wiggle room because the base where the tie goes through is a little wider than the wires. For these situations, do I need to wrap the wires with something to increase the diameter so the zip tie can actually grab on to them and hold them solid? I have smaller mounts, but I prefer the larger adhesive surface area of the bigger mounts.

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Wires that aren’t snugged down have the potential to chafe, so good idea to add a little something to the bundle at the mounts. Tape or A very short piece of scrap wire will do the trick.
 
Thanks. I'll wrap them to increase the size and snug things up. This is the only area that I think I'll run into this. I'm not using the adhesive backs - I pulled that off and attached with Goop. Once set up, they are very solid.
 
skelrad said:
Super basic question - I am using wire mounts glued to the skin to take wires back to the tail. Since there are only a few wires going to the very back, the diameter of the "bundle" is pretty small. When I zip tie the wires to the mounts there is still some wiggle room because the base where the tie goes through is a little wider than the wires. For these situations, do I need to wrap the wires with something to increase the diameter so the zip tie can actually grab on to them and hold them solid? I have smaller mounts, but I prefer the larger adhesive surface area of the bigger mounts.

View attachment 73614
Click to expand...
My plane is about 12 years old and the OB used sticky pads with cable clips to secure some of the cables going down the tail, most notably the rather heavy elevator trim cable. I noted while installing an ADAHRS behind the baggage bulkhead that a couple of those clips had come un-stuck letting the cable snake around a bit of the bottom skin. I solved the issue by sending my granddaughter (7 y/o at the time) back there on a plywood plank with a couple of new clips and resecure the cable. Couldn't use goop nor clean the floor, so I assume they'll come loose again someday but maybe someone else will own the plane when that happens. Bottom line...be judicious in using stick-on cable ties in places that are difficult to access.
 
skelrad said:
Super basic question - I am using wire mounts glued to the skin to take wires back to the tail. Since there are only a few wires going to the very back, the diameter of the "bundle" is pretty small. When I zip tie the wires to the mounts there is still some wiggle room because the base where the tie goes through is a little wider than the wires. For these situations, do I need to wrap the wires with something to increase the diameter so the zip tie can actually grab on to them and hold them solid? I have smaller mounts, but I prefer the larger adhesive surface area of the bigger mounts.

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I use them quite a bit but you really need to modify them.
Remove the adhesive pad since they will fail!
You can actually buy them without the adhesive.
Scratch up the back on a piece of sand paper
Scratch up the spot you want to adhere them to a little bit
Stick them on with 15 min epoxy or quickset JB Weld
This way they won’t come off
If you want to grab the wires tighter just use one side of the mount
 
Or, you can buy better mounts and follow the standard process spec, and they'll work just fine.
 
For OP: yes use some pressure tape or a slit piece of Tygon tubing under the zip tie to ensure it is held securely. Also, make sure you follow AC43.13 about how much droop there should be between the “clamps” on the longer runs, so that the wire won’t fray from airframe flex.

Judging from the many Cessnas and Pipers I’ve crawled around in, any way you secure wire bundles to keep them from chafing or fouling in the rigging is gonna be better than a lot of 50-60 year old “certified” airplanes currently flying. On my RV-8, I used the adhesive backed wire bundle stand-offs with zip ties and a little pressure tape as needed on smaller wire bundles. On bigger wire bundles, I used 8-32 Clickbond standoffs with acrylic adhesive and adel clamps.
 
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I threaded a 1/2" long section of soft 3/8" tubing through the wire tie between the pad and the wire bundle. The wire tie has an hourglass shape with one fat end going through the ears on the pad and the other fat end around the wire bundle, with the tube in between.

That will allow you to snug up a small diameter bundle and also stands it off from the skin a bit more.
 
Many of the mounting pads have a countersunk hole in the center that a pulled rivet such as Van's CS rivets fit well. I simply attach the pad using the adhesive mount, then then drill a hole and set it with a CS pulled rivet. Haven't had one mounted this way come off yet. :)
 
DRMA said:
Many of the mounting pads have a countersunk hole in the center that a pulled rivet such as Van's CS rivets fit well. I simply attach the pad using the adhesive mount, then then drill a hole and set it with a CS pulled rivet. Haven't had one mounted this way come off yet. :)
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That works great, but the OP is mounting these to the tailcone skin.
 
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