Firewall layout

[Ben Ellis]

I’m putting my battery on the floor in the front baggage area of my RV-8. OP-34 shows the battery cable coming through the firewall outboard of the side vertical angle and just below the cross angle near the middle of the firewall. I’d prefer to keep all wires near the floor of the baggage area and not have the battery cable that high.

With that in mind, do you guys see any problems putting the starter contactor (SC), battery cable (BC), and forest of tabs (FOT) where indicated on this drawing? I also indicated roughly where the oil cooler (OC) will go. I’m using the RV-14 oil cooler mount for my IO-390.

 

[RV7 To Go]

My 680 battery is mounted in that area with the contractors under the battery box. Your location should be ok. I would stick the engine mount on temporarily to make sure things clear the braces.

 

[rv8ch]

I put my battery on the engine side of the firewall, and it's working fine. I am happy I chose to not use that space in the baggage area for a battery - the EarthX seems to be pretty happy on the firewall. I have a few pictures that might help you here: https://www.rv8.ch/battery-holder/ I might put a smoke tank in that space some day.

 

[resrob66]

This is how I arranged mine. Master relay is inside near the battery, starter relay on the firewall. Found no need for a forest of tabs on the fwd side of the firewall. I chose to run grounds to single point. Flying now for 4 yrs, works well.

 

[Ben Ellis]

This is how I arranged mine. Master relay is inside near the battery, starter relay on the firewall. Found no need for a forest of tabs on the fwd side of the firewall. I chose to run grounds to single point. Flying now for 4 yrs, works well.

Thanks for posting, those pics are very helpful!

 

[Carl Froehlich]

I mounted one battery (PC-625) in the forward baggage compartment well as you suggest. The second PC-625 is mounted in the normal aft location.

I only found one photo of the firewall taking during the firewall insulation process. On the bottom right of the firewall you can see the SS penetrator used for wire runs.

The firewall SS penetrator is stock for the RV-14. Here is the part:

Firewall Penetration Fitting, Wiring

store.vansaircraft.com

Plate, Firewall Penetration

store.vansaircraft.com

Note - some thought went into where this penetration was installed. I first locked in the location of the firewall mounted oil cooler to make sure there was no unforeseen interference.

There is a similar firewall penetrator on the other side of the firewall (EMS cables and such).

Carl

 

[Ben Ellis]

I mounted one battery (PC-625) in the forward baggage compartment well as you suggest. The second PC-625 is mounted in the normal aft location.

I only found one photo of the firewall taking during the firewall insulation process. On the bottom right of the firewall you can see the SS penetrator used for wire runs.

The firewall SS penetrator is stock for the RV-14. Here is the part:

Firewall Penetration Fitting, Wiring

store.vansaircraft.com

Plate, Firewall Penetration

store.vansaircraft.com

Note - some thought went into where this penetration was installed. I first locked in the location of the firewall mounted oil cooler to make sure there was no unforeseen interference.

There is a similar firewall penetrator on the other side of the firewall (EMS cables and such).

Carl

Thanks for posting, Carl. Did you install nut plates through the floor for the bolts holding down the battery or is there a tray down there?

 

[Carl Froehlich]

Thanks for posting, Carl. Did you install nut plates through the floor for the bolts holding down the battery or is there a tray down there?

I modified two stock Van’s trays to use the superior (and lighter) PC-625 battery (as compared to the PC-680). The smaller one is in the forward baggage compartment. The larger one is mounted aft along the lines of Van’s instructions.

During forward floor assembly, I added a single 3/4”x3/4” piece of 0.063” angle on the bottom of the floor running under the tray, connecting to the firewall and aft rib. The 1/4” nutplates are mounted on the bottom of the floor. This translates to the battery tray being sandwitched to the floor via the stock battery holder down angle and provided hold down bolts.

If the floor is already installed, adding some support angle on top of the floor to extend under the tray edges would be the way to go.

Side note - in the photo you can see the forward, outboard corner of the tray trimmed to provide clearance with the engine mount steel weldment.

Carl

 

[Ben Ellis]

I modified two stock Van’s trays to use the superior (and lighter) PC-625 battery (as compared to the PC-680). The smaller one is in the forward baggage compartment. The larger one is mounted aft along the lines of Van’s instructions.

During forward floor assembly, I added a single 3/4”x3/4” piece of 0.063” angle on the bottom of the floor running under the tray, connecting to the firewall and aft rib. The 1/4” nutplates are mounted on the bottom of the floor. This translates to the battery tray being sandwitched to the floor via the stock battery holder down angle and provided hold down bolts.

If the floor is already installed, adding some support angle on top of the floor to extend under the tray edges would be the way to go.

Side note - in the photo you can see the forward, outboard corner of the tray trimmed to provide clearance with the engine mount steel weldment.

Carl

Makes sense, thanks!

 

[8MikeXray]

Ditto!