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Tail Strobe Wire Route

ethand

Well Known Member
What is the routing for the wires to the tail strobe? Specifically the last few feet exiting the tail cone to the rudder and rudder fairing where the light lives?

With the tie down piece right there where are you drilling the exit how and then entry into the fairing, just a straight through to minimize movement or?

Appreciated.

E
 
I just drilled a hole for the correct size snap bushing in the tail post, and the rudder front spar, cut a small horizontal slot in the rounded front of the rudder and lined it with caterpillar grommet.

If you used nutplates for the lower fairing, it makes installation of the wiring much easier.
 
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(Page OP37-16)
 
If you are going for the advanced avionics that most of us seem to be using, anything with a magnetometer, don't use the airframe ground (that's for a position light anyway, not a strobe). I made up a cable for the tail light and my rudder trim and let it drop into the bottom fairing (caterpillar grommet on the fairing edge to prevent chafing) to a CPC attached horizontally to the rudder root rib. Don't let it dangle and remember to put a drain hole in the bottom of the fairing. Yes, my -10 isn't flying but my -6A has a similar, if simpler, setup for the tail position light.
 
I just followed Van's OP-56 construction drawing for my RV-10 tail position & strobe lights. Since I'm using a LED lights for position & strobe lighting, and following the vendor's recommendation regarding use of shielding wiring, I hope it will be fine. I'm not finished yet, so haven't flown to find out.
 
RV-10 Tail Wiring

For those RV10 folks who are in need of running tail light wiring, DO NOT follow OP-56. The wire will NOT be where you need it. Look at OP-37, Page 16 as the poster mentions above. it has you put the wire in a completely different location. I wish I would have realized that Van?s contradicts themselves in these two instruction sets. Oh well... guess my plane will be a little lighter now that I have an extra hole.
 
For those RV10 folks who are in need of running tail light wiring, DO NOT follow OP-56. The wire will NOT be where you need it. Look at OP-37, Page 16 as the poster mentions above. it has you put the wire in a completely different location. I wish I would have realized that Van?s contradicts themselves in these two instruction sets. Oh well... guess my plane will be a little lighter now that I have an extra hole.

Hmm, I don't have OP-37 in my portfolio. What routing does it suggest?
 
Kyle,
I think I have a pdf of OP-37 on my laptop at home. I?ll check and if I do I?ll e-mail it to you.
 
Hmm, I don't have OP-37 in my portfolio. What routing does it suggest?

Oddly, I can't find OP-56. OP-37 is the wiring harness instructions and on OP37-16 they show a small hole drilled just below the bottom VS-1010 bracket in the center of the spar through the VS spar and rear bulkhead. Rather than a snap bushing, the hole should be just larger than the wire and the wire protected from chafing with heat-shrink tubing. This allows the wire to pass into the rudder without having to cut a slot; you just need to put caterpillar grommet on the top edge of the rudder bottom fairing.

They show attaching the return ground to one of the bolts next to the hole you drill but, as I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread, if you are going with complex avionics then you should route the ground back to the panel. In addition to the strobe, I have a trim tab servo, and the cable for both passes through a hole that's still pretty small. Because of the wire count, I use a CPC instead of the simple connector Van's calls for and because the cable and connector is heavier, I have the rudder CPC attached to the rudder bottom rib so it doesn't drag on the rudder bottom fairing.

I think the important point in this is that you should be drilling not just through the VS spar web but also the VS-108 doubler between the two attachment bolts. This positions the exit above the tie-down bracket and below the bottom rudder hinge in the best possible location, and does not significantly affect the structure.
 
I'll let ya know. Thanks!

Please do! Besides being stationed at MacDill AFB with the USAFs highest vol in sales Class VI store (liquor store for you Civilians) we?re going up to Gatlinburg in May and will be procuring a significant quantity of Ole Smokey brand whiskeys and moon shines. If you or Wayne would like any, place your order.
 
I?m working on my RV-10 tail kit now and there aren?t any lights in all the stuff I just received in the kit. I?m reading through the finishing kit parts list and I see no lights listed, either. Am I right to assume that the strobe and tail light are add-on parts? And that I?m probably better off installing them while the skin is still off? Or am I missing something in my kit?
Thanks!
 
I’m working on my RV-10 tail kit now and there aren’t any lights in all the stuff I just received in the kit. I’m reading through the finishing kit parts list and I see no lights listed, either. Am I right to assume that the strobe and tail light are add-on parts? And that I’m probably better off installing them while the skin is still off? Or am I missing something in my kit?
Thanks!

You don't need to do anything with lights right now. The tail light mounts to the fiberglass rudder fairing, and is easy to add late, late in the assembly process. Routing wires back there is another thing that you'd do better to wait until late to do, because technology is moving forward (particularly with LED's).

Edit: And yes, lights are an add-on item. Often purchased from 3rd party vendors.
 
Hmm, I don't have OP-37 in my portfolio. What routing does it suggest?

It?s not really about the route - its the hole they have you drill through the VS spar and bulkhead. OP-37 is correct, OP-56 is WAY too high, and the rudder will wind up chewing right through the wire.

First link is the right way... second is the wrong way:

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0k5gyDgvHDkKaEF6YG3UX4oxQ#Orange_County_Airport

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0i2wnTo-T2HY-3JfbtyM6MjIA#Orange_County_Airport
 
Hi
just to remind y'all that Van's Tail light installation document is incorrect as it guides the ground line to be connected to closes gnd.
That is why Aeroleds have released a new one:
https://aeroleds.com/wp-content/upl...Experiemental-Suntail-Installation_Rev_IR.pdf

For some lighting systems a local ground works just fine. OP-37 is a generic wiring system so it’s not really incorrect per se, you just might have to modify it as necessary to match your specific components if you use it. Personally I didn’t purchase OP-37 and only used the PDF for ideas on where to locate some wires and holes, like the one in question.

Also my AeroLED Suntail is locally grounded and works just fine so you see not everything is always black and white— lots of gray area in building and sometimes what works for one doesn’t for another.
 
Last edited:
This was covered in a similar post recently. I do not recommend grounding locally as noted in the previous post. Yes, it may work, but all electrical circuits must have a return path. If you ground the strobe locally the return path is either through the greased rod end bearings that hold up the rudder or via the rudder cables to wherever they may drag on the tailcone. Neither is acceptable and may result in intermittent operation or strobe failure. Ask me how I know.
 
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