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Looking for some opinions on wiring wings?

RV7ForMe

Well Known Member
Hello,

Down the wing go wires for:
1. Strobes
2. Nav
3. Heated pitot
4. AOA pitot
5. Auto pilot
6. Landing / Taxi Light

All of these would be shielded Mil spec wire.

If I have a connector for each of these at the wing to fuselage intersection do I run into possible noise or interference issues if I have all the connectors at about the same place? How is this usually done? Molex, Dsub, else? specially with the high power items?

I know this may be a silly question. But I cant seem to find a definitive answer.

Thanks for your help!
 
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The type of connector is partly personal choice and partly usage limited. I like D-Sub connectors but they are limited to 20g wire, which provides insufficient amperage for things like pitot heat. Higher amperage requires molex connectors, which I loathe. Cannon plugs are great but expensive.

I've read/heard, over the years, that 2-3 inches of non-shielding is acceptable but with all the noise located in the same area, that rule may not hold.

Unless you plan to pull the wings often, just leave a service loop at the wing root so future wing removal can be easily repaired via solder.
 
Some choose to run the cable straight thru from the Fues to the device without having a connector in between, thinking that the chance of removing the wing is pretty darn small and in such case, cutting the wire is the lease of worries. I fall in that category, one less connector to worry about. This is specially the case for the coax as each connecter results in some DB loss.

But a Molex can certainly be a good choice and should be able to carry the load without any issues. Your highest load will probably be the Pitot heat.

Hope this helps.
 
Yes. I know most run the wires to their final destinations.

Unfortunately,
I am in exactly that situation were we had to cut all wires at the wing root. (RV7 Nose-over Rebuild) So now there will be connectors because the wings are off while we rebuild due to space.

Of course this raises the question how to best deal with the situation. I assume if I use a connection I will have to carry over the shield as well or is there a mesh I can put over the connector to prevent noise?
 
I only have one thing to say on this subject - cutting wires to required length with a little margin is going to cause a lot more aggravation than spending a little more and having plenty of extra length. I've got a few places where I'd have liked a wire stretcher and a couple of spots where I had to splice in an extra length (and an extra connector) in order to be able to make my connections last. Like others have said, connector type is a personal preference. Go with the one that leaves the most hair in your head. I guess that's two things, oh well, should have planned better.
 
For power & most signal stuff, if you can't get comfortable with dsub for current capacity or moisture reasons, you could look at Weatherpack connectors. They're widely available in the USA, & should be available elsewhere. You will need the proper crimp tool for the terminals.

Having said that, you can 'upsize' current capacity of dsubs by using 'ballast' wires to parallel multiple pins. For example, if you need 15A for pitot heat you can use 3 pins, each with ~4"-6" of ballast wire. The free ends are joined and tied to your pitot heat wire. The ballast wires help ensure that the load is shared more or less equally by the 3 pins. 20ga Tefzel wire can easily handle 1/3 of the load, especially if it's only a 6" length. The pins can handle up to around 7A each; 5A very conservatively.

I would use standard coax connection hardware to make the splices in the coax, though.

I'd check the installation docs on the rest of the stuff about needing shielding. Traditional strobes will likely need shielding, but the other items should be just fine with regular old hookup wire, meaning no concerns with shielding in the connectors.
 
Hello,

Down the wing go wires for:
1. Strobes
2. Nav
3. Heated pitot
4. AOA pitot
5. Auto pilot

All of these would be shielded Mil spec wire.

If I have a connector for each of these at the wing to fuselage intersection do I run into possible noise or interference issues if I have all the connectors at about the same place? How is this usually done? Molex, Dsub, else? specially with the high power items?

I know this may be a silly question. But I cant seem to find a definitive answer.

Thanks for your help!

I used no connectors but it would have been nice to have them. There are pros and cons either way. Assembly is faster with the connectors.

Either way, the gap between the wing and fuse is very small aft of the spar. Suggest you utilize routings aft of the pushrod lightening holes. It gets really busy up there trying to avoid interference. Make a template of the wing rib and effectively plan to use those lightening holes to your advantage.

Detusch DT series connectors have pins for the range of amperage you will encounter. They are sealed and quite reliable. The machined pins are like d-sub and needing a special $$$ crimper. Caterpillar sells a crimper and a connector kit for about the same price as the crimper. It is/was available in the parts department. It will get you started but not likely fill all the connector needs.

You could recess bulkhead connectors in the wing lightening holes to allow room for the plug length, and enough slack to make the connection before the wing is installed. Aligning the holes in the fuse would allow retraction of the excess back into the fuse. Good alignment could work with no connectors too.

Let us know how you end up.
 
If you do decide to go with Deutsch, you can get cheap crimpers on Ebay for around $30, or maybe even your local auto parts store. They're becoming more and more common. You'll probably need two sizes (16g and 20g) whereas the Caterpillar crimpers are adjustable for all sizes. The cheap ones crimp just as well as the expensive Caterpillar ones, we use them all the time at work.

Deutsch connectors are great. You won't regret using them. Easy to use (and easily reusable) robust, and about as far from a Molex connector as you can get in terms of quality :rolleyes:
 
Lights?

What about lights?
And temp sensor? if using a Gramin autopilot, the temp sensor can use the same Can bus as the autopilot servo; saves a separate wire run.
 
+1 for Deutsch

I am using Deutsch connectors from prowireusa.com.

The DTM series are good for up to 7.5 amps

The DT series can go to 13 amps.

The DTP series can go to 25 amps.

They are easy to use and weather resistant.

They have up to 12 pin connectors as well as flange (bulkhead) connectors.
 
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Another vote for the DTM connectors. They will handle the current load of everything on the list apart from the pitot. The DTM pins can handle a slightly larger diameter wire than the dsub, up to 18awg if you use the 32 strand tefzel. I can't remember if the 16 strand would fit, but you can always snip a couple of strands, as it would be very close anyway. If you plan on doing much wiring in the future you should think hard about getting a quality set of DMC crimpers from Stein. The positioners in my mind are not as critical, and I bought a set of knockoffs from Amazon for $50 that fit the crimper perfectly, and have the perfect depth. They had everything necessary for d-sub, micro-sub, DTM and a few others. I'll add some link when I get home.
That said, I ended up putting a service loop under the seat so that I can just cut the wires and add the connectors in the future if needed. The more important location for the connectors is out in the tip so you can easily remove the tip.
Cheers,
Tom.
 
thank you guys!

Looks like the Deutsch stecker are very popular.
It just occurred to me that I can hook everything up and find out if there is any interference. Since the avionic are all working already... So I will decide what plug to buy and see how it plays out.

thank you agian.
 
What about lights?
And temp sensor? if using a Gramin autopilot, the temp sensor can use the same Can bus as the autopilot servo; saves a separate wire run.

Oh and thank you. I forgot the landing and taxi light but yes it is all in there as well. Interesting idea about the OAT sensor. THanks
 
Connectors

After building a 7 and struggling with a couple of connectors, on the new one I decided to do 1 connector at the root and 1 at the tip. Makes things so much easier for construction and when you have to remove the wings or tips for paint or annual.

I'm running all LED lights so i combined the taxi and landing lights. They are both on at the same time. Really no reason to separate as the draw so little. Nice to have all the light on the ground.

I'm hoping I can get the photo to attach.

245h4d0.jpg
[/IMG]

Pretty simple set up. Not cheap but simple.
 
Some choose to run the cable straight thru from the Fues to the device without having a connector in between, thinking that the chance of removing the wing is pretty darn small and in such case, cutting the wire is the lease of worries. I fall in that category, one less connector to worry about. This is specially the case for the coax as each connecter results in some DB loss.

But a Molex can certainly be a good choice and should be able to carry the load without any issues. Your highest load will probably be the Pitot heat.

Hope this helps.

I follow this approach. i don't view the wings as removable items and therefore no need for a connector. I like to wire the wings and fuse separately before mounting. I leave extra wire and then use solder and shrink wrap to connect the wires after mounting.

Connectors out in the elements can create problems down the road with corrossion and I just don't see the benefit to offest that risk.

If I ever have to pull the wings, I snip the wires and re-solder on re-attach. That is a 15 minute effort.

Larry
 
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After building a 7 and struggling with a couple of connectors, on the new one I decided to do 1 connector at the root and 1 at the tip. Makes things so much easier for construction and when you have to remove the wings or tips for paint or annual.

I'm running all LED lights so i combined the taxi and landing lights. They are both on at the same time. Really no reason to separate as the draw so little. Nice to have all the light on the ground.

I'm hoping I can get the photo to attach.

245h4d0.jpg
[/IMG]

Pretty simple set up. Not cheap but simple.

I have two full sets of these that came with my kit that I am not going to use. Will sell at a good price if interested.

Larry
 
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