Wiring for The Works by FLYLEDs

[jamcgee1978]

Afternoon all,

I’m in the process of ordering the wiring to run through the wings prior to close up for the flyleds , Im guessing 18AWG shielded is the standard ? Also exactly what wiring needs to go out to the outboard end as i see the controller is mounted in the fuse to handle the wigwags. I’m trying to make sense of the flyleds diagram here but I’m left a little confused .

Thanks
James

 

[Raymo]

I just completed a Works install in an already flying RV-7. Took a LOT of time but was able to re-use existing wires from the Whelen Nav/Strobe and landing light installation. Aiming the landing/taxi lights leaves a lot to be desired in a tail dragger install, IMO, but might be due to the fact that this was the older wing tip with less room for mounting.

FlyLED only requires shielded wires for the strobe lights in the wings and to the tail. Doesn't hurt to use shielded wires for the other stuff but not required.

It was not clear to me that Wig-Wag was built into the Works package so I inadvertently purchased the separate option, which was then gifted to another RV.

The tail nav/strobe only needs two wires (20g) shielded. The controller sends 30% power for nav and short 100% bursts for strobe. Be sure NOT to hook the tail strobe up to a 12v power source as it will quickly fry the unit (not meant for full power all the time).

 

[mcgaughy]

"the works" kit I received had wiring diagrams and size call outs in the instructions. I went with that size or larger..... Their sizes looked a bit small, but I trust them. I enjoyed assembling the kit and it functions great.

 

[Paul from Flyleds]

Hi James

The position and strobe circuits only need 3 wire 22AWG shielded wire, which is what we supply in our harness kits. The difference in resistance or voltage drop between 22, 20 and 18 AWG wire in our application is essentially irrelevant, so you can use any of these if you have it on hand.

(The strobe and position circuits to the wingtips already have large value resistors in them, so the 0.3 or 0.6 ohms of wire resistance becomes a small fraction of the total resistance. The LEDs are still super bright!)

For landing lights such as in the Works kit or our Combo lights you need standard (unshielded) 18AWG wire. Our Seven Stars lights require 16 or 14AWG wire. 50ft/15m will again be enough for both wings.
A single spotlight in our lights can also be wired as a taxi light, so you would need one more 20AWG run for that.

We recommend shielded wire for the strobe circuit as it makes the bundle out to the wingtips simple to implement and run.
Our landing lights do not make any electrical noise so standard wire is all that's required there.

I have sent you further information in reply to your email as well.
Our instructions can be downloaded from the Info page via the Flyleds logo below.

 

[jamcgee1978]

Thanks Paul and ray for the replies i ve got a clearer picture what needs to be fed through the wings now.

 

[932WT]

I'm struggling a bit with installing the Works kit in my new to me RV10 which had the old whelen strobes with the strobe driver box under the pilot seat. I am not a builder. I bought the flyled control board which replaces the old strobe driver. The new flyled board has four plugs, power, right strobe, left strobe and tail light. It will be a huge pain to change the wiring for the position, tail light and the landing lights to run to the new flyled board. I'd like to to just use the flyled control board to drive the wing strobes and connect the wingtip position leds and the landing lights to the old wiring and not back to the control board. For the tail light I know I cannot connect the flyled tail light to 12v, so I'm thinking of ditching the flyled tail light and replacing it with a tail light I can just wire into the existing 12v wiring. Will this work?

 

[BobTurner]

I'm struggling a bit with installing the Works kit in my new to me RV10 which had the old whelen strobes with the strobe driver box under the pilot seat. I am not a builder. I bought the flyled control board which replaces the old strobe driver. The new flyled board has four plugs, power, right strobe, left strobe and tail light. It will be a huge pain to change the wiring for the position, tail light and the landing lights to run to the new flyled board. I'd like to to just use the flyled control board to drive the wing strobes and connect the wingtip position leds and the landing lights to the old wiring and not back to the control board. For the tail light I know I cannot connect the flyled tail light to 12v, so I'm thinking of ditching the flyled tail light and replacing it with a tail light I can just wire into the existing 12v wiring. Will this work?

I was in a similar position, except my Whelen power supply was just aft of the baggage area. So, some answers:
Yes, you can continue to use existing switches/wiring for the landing lights. But, you will lose wig-wag capability.
I think you can use your existing nav light switch/wiring.
Now the problem: if you fly at night, the aft strobe is required (to have adequate light in the aft direction). You cannot legally go without it. Because my board was in the tailcone it was easy for me to locate the existing wires to the tail lights (nav and strobe), re-purpose/re-direct them to the control board. For you, you will need to get those wires to your under seat location, as well as the power from your strobe panel switch. Either down the side, or under, the front seats. This will take some work.
IMHO it really isn’t too hard, and well worth the effort.
Edit: you can make things a bit easier by using FlyLeds ‘stand alone’ tail nav/strobe light. Lets you by-pass the control board and just 2 wires directly to strobe and nav light switches (you probably already have one of these wires). You could ask Paul if you can trade in what you have for the stand-alone tail system.

 

[RVbySDI]

I'm struggling a bit with installing the Works kit in my new to me RV10 which had the old whelen strobes with the strobe driver box under the pilot seat. I am not a builder. I bought the flyled control board which replaces the old strobe driver. The new flyled board has four plugs, power, right strobe, left strobe and tail light. It will be a huge pain to change the wiring for the position, tail light and the landing lights to run to the new flyled board. I'd like to to just use the flyled control board to drive the wing strobes and connect the wingtip position leds and the landing lights to the old wiring and not back to the control board. For the tail light I know I cannot connect the flyled tail light to 12v, so I'm thinking of ditching the flyled tail light and replacing it with a tail light I can just wire into the existing 12v wiring. Will this work?

Even if you have to run new wires to the wingtips it is really not that difficult of a task. Wherever your tail light wires go you should be able to connect them back to your control board also. It may seem to be a hard task but it isn’t really that difficult to do. If you feel like talking it through feel free to contact me via IM or phone (For oh fife ate two to zero six too won) if you wish to discuss procedures that could work.

 

[932WT]

Even if you have to run new wires to the wingtips it is really not that difficult of a task. Wherever your tail light wires go you should be able to connect them back to your control board also. It may seem to be a hard task but it isn’t really that difficult to do. If you feel like talking it through feel free to contact me via IM or phone (For oh fife ate two to zero six too won) if you wish to discuss procedures that could work.

Thank you! Paul from Flyled has been helping me. The only wire I need to run to the new controller board (other than the existing strobe wires) is the tail light wire. The nav and landing lights are wired into the existing circuits. The strobes are already wired to where the old strobe power supple was under the seat and that's where the new controller board goes. I got the wing lights all working today and now I just need to redirect the tail wire to the control board.

 

[932WT]

Even if you have to run new wires to the wingtips it is really not that difficult of a task. Wherever your tail light wires go you should be able to connect them back to your control board also. It may seem to be a hard task but it isn’t really that difficult to do. If you feel like talking it through feel free to contact me via IM or phone (For oh fife ate two to zero six too won) if you wish to discuss procedures that could work.

Thank you! I think I've got it figured out now. I can use all the existing wiring. I just need to divert the tail light wires to the controller board.

 

[932WT]

I was in a similar position, except my Whelen power supply was just aft of the baggage area. So, some answers:
Yes, you can continue to use existing switches/wiring for the landing lights. But, you will lose wig-wag capability.
I think you can use your existing nav light switch/wiring.
Now the problem: if you fly at night, the aft strobe is required (to have adequate light in the aft direction). You cannot legally go without it. Because my board was in the tailcone it was easy for me to locate the existing wires to the tail lights (nav and strobe), re-purpose/re-direct them to the control board. For you, you will need to get those wires to your under seat location, as well as the power from your strobe panel switch. Either down the side, or under, the front seats. This will take some work.
IMHO it really isn’t too hard, and well worth the effort.
Edit: you can make things a bit easier by using FlyLeds ‘stand alone’ tail nav/strobe light. Lets you by-pass the control board and just 2 wires directly to strobe and nav light switches (you probably already have one of these wires). You could ask Paul if you can trade in what you have for the stand-alone tail system.

Thank you. I've got it figured out.