Passing crank sensor wire through baffles

I don't like this as it's not maintenance friendly if this needs replacing. What have others done to pass the wiring back through the baffles? I did not want to bend the wire to the left side of the aircraft as it puts a very sharp bend on it and seems like it would be hard on the wiring.

I'd worry more about vibration moving the wire against the sharp edge of the slot in the baffle.

Possible fix for both issues:

Notch the baffle with a hole big enough for the sensor or its connector to pass through.
Make a 'patch' disc large enough to have a flange around the hole, drill for a plastic/rubber bushing, and slit with snips so you can bend it open to insert the wire.
Match drill attachment holes in the disc & baffle; add platenuts to the baffle.
Bushing can be slit to allow wrapping it around wire before inserting in the disc.

Does that help?

Charlie

I used a piece of stainless steel tubing.

I did a writeup about the install here. http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=140667

Detail you are looking for is in post 2.

Charlie that does help, but photos would help.

Mike, you must have a completely different engine/baffle setup as my (o-320 RV9A) center forward baffle is 2 or more inches further forward of where yours are. No way to get anything between the baffle and the crank sensor. THere's about an inch clearance.

Sorry; no pics. I was just trying to describe a 'good practice' technique. For a different view, visualize cutting off the bottom couple of inches of the baffle shown in your pics, then making a slightly larger piece that would attach to the engine and to what was left of the baffle. In that piece, drill a hole where the wire would pass (large enough for a grommet). Pick an edge, and cut from there to the hole. You can spread the resulting slit to get the wire & grommet into the hole, then close the slit & attach the piece to both the engine and what's left of the baffle.

Try searching for pics of cooling plenums, and look at how the upper spark plug wires go through the plenum.

A simpler, but harder to find, option is just a large surface area grommet, that fits your wire on the inside diameter and has a large enough outside diameter to fill the hole your sensor (or connector) needs to pass through.

dbaflyer said:

Mike, you must have a completely different engine/baffle setup as my (o-320 RV9A) center forward baffle is 2 or more inches further forward of where yours are. No way to get anything between the baffle and the crank sensor. THere's about an inch clearance.

Click to expand...

Dennis, yes different engine IO 540 and the prop gov is front mounted.

In the photo below you have a couple clecos showing that were inserted from behind the baffle. This tells me that there is a little bit of room in that area.

Could you bend up a piece of tubing, make a simple "L" shape, run it down the rear of the baffle, and the bent leg goes through the hole you already have, ending just short of the sensor mount? Couple Adel clamps to hole the tube to the baffle and you should be golden.

Denis,

I'm curious I'd you found a solution you are happy with for this issue? I'm working on the sa,e problem right now.

Any pictures would be appreciated.

Deutsch Connector

My solution,

Allow room to fit a (water proof connector)

http://www.deutschconnector.com/

While Ross has supplied nice long one piece harnesses,should I need to disconnect the Crank angle sensor,I simply built in a disconnect point where I will cut the harness and then fit water proof Deutsch Connector, the same as every car manufacture has been doing for the last 30 years.



Cheers,

Thanks for the photo. I'm looking specifically for the best way to pass the cable through the forward baffle. The space available in the RV-8 is fairly limited and I'm struggling to come up with a way that might allow future maintenance without having to tear apart the baffles. There might not be a great solution for that aside from your connector idea.

As of now, I have the cable secured just on the aft side of the sensor mount with an adel clamp. That clamp buts right up against the forward baffle and upper center baffle attachment angle so once I have it riveted together, there will be no way to access the adel clamp.