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Making wiring harnesses

K

Karee Brinlee

Active Member
Hey group,
I am not good with wiring but my BF is an expert on Automobiles and is a go to guy for trouble shooting when others can not figure things out.

So, he is going to do the wiring.

We are using an Advanced 5600 EFIS and using the Advanced control module.

They of course have wiring diagrams which are very helpful but the issue I am having is figuring how much wire of each color to order. We know what colors they use of course but determining how many feet is a feat in itself LOL

So,
What if we just order the wire in many colors and change the colors on the diagrams if needed ... instead of chasing and ordering more wire for this and that. In other words, we would order say 30 feet of correct gauge of 20 different colors of wire....
??
Then document the wiring color changes in case someone in the future has to chase a problem.
I hope this makes sense but I think that will be the easiest way to get this plane wired..
KB
 
Changing the wire color is perfectly reasonable. Documenting the colors changes is the key.

EDIT: As an aside, many builders will just use 20 AWG as the smallest wire even if 22 AWG is called for. Its much easier to use the 20 AWG instead of the 22 AWG and there's no practical down side.
 
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ACM

I finished wiring not long ago.
Mine is Dynon with the ACM so very similar.
I used a piece of Cat-5 to measure lengths of wire and put together an order. Cut cables a couple feet longer than the estimate. Nothing worse than having to pull another one in.
I spent a career in Telecom (Wirejock) so it's no big deal for me.
I can give some tips.
-AFS will custom make almost any harness any length you want. It's worth it to avoid all that color change work.
-The ADAHRS, GPS and AP servo harnesses were long enough on my 7A to scavange wire for other uses. I made the switch harness from most of it. That was nice because it gave me unique colors I documented.
-Ray Allen trim wire works great for trim motors. Colors are already documented in AFS plans.
-Lights depend on manufacturer. Check before ordering.
-Dynon EMS has a huge 37-pin cable. Not sure how AFS is set up but all those sensors require some kind of wire to get to the EMS.
-ACM has a stick harness. Order longer harnesses than the standard. I needed a slightly longer one on the Pilot side. They fabricated and sent it.
-Same for the backup battery harnesses. They're kind of short.
I used probably 50' of 22AWG red, black and white. Maybe 20-30' of 18AWG and 20AWG of the same colors.
I used shielded twisted multi conductor wherever more than one wire was needed. Mostly lights.
I also twist wires going to the same device.
ADAHRS, AP servos, GPS puck, trim and flap cables all run ti the ACM with no breaks. Lights have a wing root junctuon and a wing tip junction.
Consider another ELT. AFS uses the ACK. Lots of complaints on it.
FWF is another issue altogether. Lengths are shorter but cables are bigger and cost more.
 
One other option is to wire it like it was a commercial production item. Use a single color and simply label each wire as needed.

All of our wiring at work is single color, but we laser the wire identification information onto each wire, at designated spacing. That isn't practical for homebuilders, but you can use printed heatshrink labels for each end.

Don't forget to leave yourself enough wire at each connector to redo the terminations a couple of times and have a service loop. Nothing else will create as much frustration as not being able to move a box enough to get the connector on or off without damaging the harness.
 
wiring

Thank you guys for all the tips.
Looks like we are just doing white wire and using a Rhino4200 to label with heat shrink.
What a dang puzzle. Pounding rivets and Firewall forward was easy but my brain gets foggy when it comes to wiring the panel. Thankfully I have help.

have a great day guys.
Karee
 
Karee Brinlee said:
Thank you guys for all the tips.
Looks like we are just doing white wire and using a Rhino4200 to label with heat shrink.
What a dang puzzle. Pounding rivets and Firewall forward was easy but my brain gets foggy when it comes to wiring the panel. Thankfully I have help.

have a great day guys.
Karee
Click to expand...

Hello Karee,
I am in Tuttle just south of OKC. If you are interested in talking I can give some advice on building your harnesses. You can contact me anytime via phone, text, email if you wish to talk. My contact information is in the rvwings.com link in my signature.
 
Apologies if this is too much of a sidetrack question...don't intend to derail the thread....
Related I think to labeling and color coding...is just plain layout of harnesses.

I used to work a lot with industrial equipment that had custom made control panels for power and instrumentation controls for things like pumps and mixers, with flow meters and otehr sensors, PID or PLC controllers, etc... power wiring with contactors, all the manual switches, indicators, etc.... I worked with designing and specifying the equipment, and buying from various vendors. I was usually very impressed with the workmanship in the panels, neatly routing the wires through DIN rails, and looming them out to controls mounted in the cabinet, etc... Although I did run across more than a few that were poorly tagged, sloppy, and just generally very hard to trace and trouble shoot.

It seems like every time I try to wire a simple switch, things like the battery monitor and shunt I recently installed in my motorhome, or a radio in a car or boat, etc.. it ends up looking like pretty much a mess....not at all the vision I picture in my head.

As I daydream about building a plane, I realize that at some point I need to take a wiring class!! Not as much about reading a schematic and designing a circuit...although no doubt I can still learn a lot there too...but just about wire routing, looming, etc...
Do such classes exist?
 
Telecom

Blw2 said:
Apologies if this is too much of a sidetrack question...don't intend to derail the thread....
Related I think to labeling and color coding...is just plain layout of harnesses.

I used to work a lot with industrial equipment that had custom made control panels for power and instrumentation controls for things like pumps and mixers, with flow meters and otehr sensors, PID or PLC controllers, etc... power wiring with contactors, all the manual switches, indicators, etc.... I worked with designing and specifying the equipment, and buying from various vendors. I was usually very impressed with the workmanship in the panels, neatly routing the wires through DIN rails, and looming them out to controls mounted in the cabinet, etc... Although I did run across more than a few that were poorly tagged, sloppy, and just generally very hard to trace and trouble shoot.

It seems like every time I try to wire a simple switch, things like the battery monitor and shunt I recently installed in my motorhome, or a radio in a car or boat, etc.. it ends up looking like pretty much a mess....not at all the vision I picture in my head.

As I daydream about building a plane, I realize that at some point I need to take a wiring class!! Not as much about reading a schematic and designing a circuit...although no doubt I can still learn a lot there too...but just about wire routing, looming, etc...
Do such classes exist?
Click to expand...

I've never seen one for airplanes and cars, but they wre pretty common in the Telecom world. Or you can find an old Telecom guy and learn how to loom, lash, etc. I spent a career in Telecom. "Wirejock". My panel doesn't look as neat as I wanted. I ran out of room back there and cables were too big to dress neatly.
 
thanks
and well yeah, that's another thing...working upside down in tight spaces never helps!
 
Blw2 said:
Apologies if this is too much of a sidetrack question...don't intend to derail the thread....
Related I think to labeling and color coding...is just plain layout of harnesses.

I used to work a lot with industrial equipment that had custom made control panels for power and instrumentation controls for things like pumps and mixers, with flow meters and otehr sensors, PID or PLC controllers, etc... power wiring with contactors, all the manual switches, indicators, etc.... I worked with designing and specifying the equipment, and buying from various vendors. I was usually very impressed with the workmanship in the panels, neatly routing the wires through DIN rails, and looming them out to controls mounted in the cabinet, etc... Although I did run across more than a few that were poorly tagged, sloppy, and just generally very hard to trace and trouble shoot.

It seems like every time I try to wire a simple switch, things like the battery monitor and shunt I recently installed in my motorhome, or a radio in a car or boat, etc.. it ends up looking like pretty much a mess....not at all the vision I picture in my head.

As I daydream about building a plane, I realize that at some point I need to take a wiring class!! Not as much about reading a schematic and designing a circuit...although no doubt I can still learn a lot there too...but just about wire routing, looming, etc...
Do such classes exist?
Click to expand...

This class will give you hands on wiring experience. This class is coming up pretty soon but there will be others.

https://vansairforce.net/community/showthread.php?t=220268&highlight=Avionics+class

Even though this is related to Garmin installs, the general principles will be the same. Plus, Garmin’s the way….just say’n ;)
 
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Blw2 said:
Apologies if this is too much of a sidetrack question...don't intend to derail the thread....
Related I think to labeling and color coding...is just plain layout of harnesses.

I used to work a lot with industrial equipment that had custom made control panels for power and instrumentation controls for things like pumps and mixers, with flow meters and otehr sensors, PID or PLC controllers, etc... power wiring with contactors, all the manual switches, indicators, etc.... I worked with designing and specifying the equipment, and buying from various vendors. I was usually very impressed with the workmanship in the panels, neatly routing the wires through DIN rails, and looming them out to controls mounted in the cabinet, etc... Although I did run across more than a few that were poorly tagged, sloppy, and just generally very hard to trace and trouble shoot.

It seems like every time I try to wire a simple switch, things like the battery monitor and shunt I recently installed in my motorhome, or a radio in a car or boat, etc.. it ends up looking like pretty much a mess....not at all the vision I picture in my head.

As I daydream about building a plane, I realize that at some point I need to take a wiring class!! Not as much about reading a schematic and designing a circuit...although no doubt I can still learn a lot there too...but just about wire routing, looming, etc...
Do such classes exist?
Click to expand...

Michael may have beat me to the answer about classes, but click on this link for info on an upcoming basic wiring class:

https://aea.net/training/courses/basicinstall/
 
mfleming said:
EDIT: As an aside, many builders will just use 20 AWG as the smallest wire even if 22 AWG is called for. Its much easier to use the 20 AWG instead of the 22 AWG and there's no practical down side.
Click to expand...

The exception are high density D connectors that are common on most avionic trays. Those tiny pins us #22 wire.

While colors are nice, once the wire bundles are put together color and or labels loose their value.

What I do:
- The radio stack is wired on the bench. Assuming you are using a modern EFIS type network, the highest density of wire are associated with the audio panel. EFIS networks eliminate a boatload of wires associate with analog panels.
- I document each pin as to what it is connected to as this provides very easy verification of connections, and for the inevitable future panel mod. Documentation is a standard Word document. I find the cool looking spaghetti diagrams close to useless.
- Once all the connections are done with the removable part of the panel (NAV/COMM, GPS navigator, audio panel and such) all connections to the rest of the plane are done via D connectors and one Molex for power/ground. This divides the panel wiring into what stays in the plane and what comes out with the panel.

To the root question, a “wiring harness” is a misnomer. We are building one off airplanes, not thousands of assembly line cars. In other words a better way to think of your wire harness is “one wire at a time”.

Carl
 
Telecom

Blw2 said:
perfect, thanks...well I'm not even close to needing to attend...but at least now I know that they are offered....
Click to expand...

The first time I saw a Central Office/Data Center, I was so blown away. How do they track a single wire in multi thousands? No sweat.

Funny, I can't count the number of 200 pair cables I terminated. That birds nest neighborhood pedestal? No problem. What will blow your mind is watching an old Telecom Tech teeminate a big cable. We start from the bottom, backwards.

I really wish wire manufacturers would adopt the Telecom color standard. A typical milti strand shielded twisted cable has white, white/blue, white/orange, etc. The Telelcom standard is white/blue, white/orange, white/green, white/brown, white/slate. There is no solid color. Every wire has a secondary color.

I also see so many vendors documenting the colors backwards. Primary color is always first. Stripe is second. AFS is one. I caught quite a few backwards colors on their documentation. Makes my OCD brain go wacky.

I generated a spreadsheet. Every wire from point to point. Colors, connector type, pin #, etc. Super easy to find and track any circuit.
 
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mfleming said:
Changing the wire color is perfectly reasonable. Documenting the colors changes is the key.

EDIT: As an aside, many builders will just use 20 AWG as the smallest wire even if 22 AWG is called for. Its much easier to use the 20 AWG instead of the 22 AWG and there's no practical down side.
Click to expand...

Just out of interest, why is 20AWG easier?
 
TASEsq said:
Just out of interest, why is 20AWG easier?
Click to expand...

It's easier to use because it's just not so small in diameter. IMHO 20 AWG is easier to strip and crimp.

The other benefit is eliminating two different sizes. For instance, most of the Garmin wiring diagrams say 22 AWG unless otherwise specified. Normally the data wires are 22 AWG and the power/ground wires are 20 AWG. one size makes it easier. The weight difference is probably unmeasurable.
 
wirejock said:
The first time I saw a Central Office/Data Center, I was so blown away. How do they track a single wire in multi thousands? No sweat.

Funny, I can't count the number of 200 pair cables I terminated. That birds nest neighborhood pedestal? No problem. What will blow your mind is watching an old Telecom Tech teeminate a big cable. We start from the bottom, backwards.

I really wish wire manufacturers would adopt the Telecom color standard. A typical milti strand shielded twisted cable has white, white/blue, white/orange, etc. The Telelcom standard is white/blue, white/orange, white/green, white/brown, white/slate. There is no solid color. Every wire has a secondary color.

I also see so many vendors documenting the colors backwards. Primary color is always first. Stripe is second. AFS is one. I caught quite a few backwards colors on their documentation. Makes my OCD brain go wacky.

I generated a spreadsheet. Every wire from point to point. Colors, connector type, pin #, etc. Super easy to find and track any circuit.
Click to expand...

In another life I was one of those telecom installers. Those 200 pair cables (and larger) all had a color pattern. They started as bundles of 25 pair that were stranded with color coded wrapping with the colors Larry mentioned. Each 25 pair had the same colors packed in them. Each 200 pair cable had their own color wrapping. The key was the color wrapped around each 25 pair and each 200 Pair cable. Those colors dictated which cardinal direction from the switch office or pedestal they were leaving. North, South, East, West had their unique color code. Once you knew that information then you also had color pairs assigned to specific locations leaving a pedestal going to a specific location on the line.

It all worked well in that situation but I am not sure that standard would work too well in our panel wiring.
 
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