Page 1 of 1

Wing wiring and a strobe question

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:47 pm
by Mike Kimball
I am thinking about running the wires for lights and pitot heat down the
inside of the rear door posts. Is this a bad idea with my fuel lines in
there as well? The fuel lines are solid aluminum tubing and I was planning
on a non-metal conduit for the wires. Pitot tubing would be in there on one
side as well. Entry would be through the fuselage rib in front of the rear
door post, then angled inside the upper, rear corner sections of the door
frame, then through the door post bulkhead (hidden from view inside the
corner section).

Anyone know the pros and cons of using wingtip mounted strobe power supplies
versus a remote mounted supply? I already know that the remote supply
requires 3-conductor high voltage lines to be run all the way out to each
wing tip, versus 1-conductor, 18-gauge, low voltage wire for the wing tip
mounted supplies. Also, one remote supply is cheaper than two wingtip
mounted ones. Wires for a remote supply are already in the wings. Does the
remote supply and long runs of high voltage increase problems with radio
interference? Maybe one other con to the high voltage run if those wires
are near the fuel lines. A high voltage spark near the fuel would be worse
than a low voltage spark I would imagine. Maybe I've already convinced
myself to switch to low voltage lines and wingtip mounted power supplies
despite the expense in time and money.

Mike Kimball
SR #044

P.S. While installing the aileron cables through the front door post I
tried someone's suggestion of using the kit supplied cable fairleads that
have the mounting holes perpendicular to the cable hole, drilling another
cable hole parallel with the mounting holes, and it worked great. I was
even able to slightly angle the hole I drilled to line up better with the
actual angle of the cable. I mounted one of the fairleads backwards in the
slot in the front door post channel after filing an angle on the mounting
flanges to match the cable angle and using the original cable hole in the
fairlead.




-----------------------------------------------------------------
List archives located at: https://mail.dcsol.com/login
username "rebel" password "builder"
Unsubscribe: rebel-builders-unsubscribe@dcsol.com
List administrator: mike.davis@dcsol.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Wing wiring and a strobe question

Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:47 pm
by Bob Patterson
Hi Mike !

You're probably better to run the wiring & pitot line down
the strut and into the bottom of the cabin. It's a shorter, more
direct route - less chance of kinks and line loss. It is also a
lot tidier in the cockpit - no wires or plumbing up top, and
all easily accessible. It's also a bit easier to disconnect
before wing removal....

The strobes with power supplies in the wings are likely
the best way to go. Should/could even be cheaper than one central
power pack (the big singles are pretty expensive !!). The Aeroflash
units seem to be about 30%+ <less> than Whelens ... and have a
more streamlined looking glass over the strobe.

I agree with you about not wanting a high power spark near
the fuel !! I have experienced an unpleasant amount of radio
noise from the Whelen units - seems all that high voltage running
out to the wings makes a great antenna !! :-(

I have had problems with failures of sections of the
central unit, meaning one wing or tail didn't work properly
(or at all !) - this meant removing the unit = NO strobes !!
At least with separate units, you'll have a better chance of
having at least one working .... Maybe you could use the
existing wiring ???

Sounds like you've already convinced yourself to go
with the separate tip units anyway - GOOD CHOICE !!!! ;-)

.....bobp

------------------------------orig.----------------------------------
At 10:15 AM 2/6/02 -0900, you wrote:
I am thinking about running the wires for lights and pitot heat down the
inside of the rear door posts. Is this a bad idea with my fuel lines in
there as well? The fuel lines are solid aluminum tubing and I was planning
on a non-metal conduit for the wires. Pitot tubing would be in there on one
side as well. Entry would be through the fuselage rib in front of the rear
door post, then angled inside the upper, rear corner sections of the door
frame, then through the door post bulkhead (hidden from view inside the
corner section).

Anyone know the pros and cons of using wingtip mounted strobe power supplies
versus a remote mounted supply? I already know that the remote supply
requires 3-conductor high voltage lines to be run all the way out to each
wing tip, versus 1-conductor, 18-gauge, low voltage wire for the wing tip
mounted supplies. Also, one remote supply is cheaper than two wingtip
mounted ones. Wires for a remote supply are already in the wings. Does the
remote supply and long runs of high voltage increase problems with radio
interference? Maybe one other con to the high voltage run if those wires
are near the fuel lines. A high voltage spark near the fuel would be worse
than a low voltage spark I would imagine. Maybe I've already convinced
myself to switch to low voltage lines and wingtip mounted power supplies
despite the expense in time and money.

Mike Kimball
SR #044

P.S. While installing the aileron cables through the front door post I
tried someone's suggestion of using the kit supplied cable fairleads that
have the mounting holes perpendicular to the cable hole, drilling another
cable hole parallel with the mounting holes, and it worked great. I was
even able to slightly angle the hole I drilled to line up better with the
actual angle of the cable. I mounted one of the fairleads backwards in the
slot in the front door post channel after filing an angle on the mounting
flanges to match the cable angle and using the original cable hole in the
fairlead.


** To unsubscribe, send e-mail to list-server@dcsol.com with **
** UNSUBSCRIBE MURPHY-REBEL in the message body on a line by itself **
** Archives located at http://rebel:builder@www.dcsol.com:81/default.htm **
** To contact the list admin, e-mail mike.davis@dcsol.com **






-----------------------------------------------------------------
List archives located at: https://mail.dcsol.com/login
username "rebel" password "builder"
Unsubscribe: rebel-builders-unsubscribe@dcsol.com
List administrator: mike.davis@dcsol.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------