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Ground power plug

nevetsw18

Active Member
Hello,

I'm currently working on my simple skyview panel. I'm looking for info from the brain trust on the installation of a ground power plug. I'm wondering how you did it/what parts you bought to make it happen?

The primary goal of adding a plug is to program the efis and add flight plans and routes to the system prior to departure. I have an EarthX battery and would like to avoid using a trickle charger whilest programming my efis.

Thanks!
 
You'll need a charger specifically approved for your EarthX battery. This one comes with the quick disconnect you can attach to the battery and plug in through the oil door.

I have the same setup for my PC680 and it worked well for keeping the battery charged while doing the EFIS setup.
 
I mounted an Anderson SB50 to my engine mount and is accessible from the oil door. It is good to 120 amps, and not too bulky. I used a #8 wire for connection. A heavy jumper adapter and a charger/power supply adapter plug was made. I got the part numbers from the anderson site and ordered all components from Mouser.

A tee handle was added to the jumpers to facilitate easy removal. Although, not weightless, the whole weight added is minimal for the function.

EDIT: PS - I have a MFJ power supply like the one Carl linked - dead quiet electrically for your avionics work, and the Earth X will be happy too. Get the unit with a voltage and amperage meter.
 
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Hello,

I'm currently working on my simple skyview panel. I'm looking for info from the brain trust on the installation of a ground power plug. I'm wondering how you did it/what parts you bought to make it happen?

The primary goal of adding a plug is to program the efis and add flight plans and routes to the system prior to departure. I have an EarthX battery and would like to avoid using a trickle charger whilest programming my efis.

Thanks!

The simple way to do this is to add jumper wires, say 12 gauge, one to your avionics buss or airplane side of your master solenoid, and one to your ground buss. Pick a connector of your choice. The mating connector gets hooked to a 30 amp or so regulated power supply. In this configuration your master solenoid can remain off, or you can turn it on if you want to do a little charge. In this latter case the charge rate will be dependent on how big a power supply purchased. When not in use you can tuck the jumper wire up behind the panel.

A simple power supply like this one would meet your needs: https://www.gigaparts.com/mfj-4230m...MIzaOYyP_Q2AIVF1YNCh1VGQQcEAQYAiABEgJfDvD_BwE

I recommend never running avionics or pMags on your battery with any battery charger connected.

Carl
 
I did it two ways.

I bought one of these: (With an Earth-X battery, you will need a different charger.)
51q2B1KvIZHL.jpg


And put connector with the ring terminals on the battery. I used Adel clamps to hold the connector in place by the oil door.

The other option, which I also did and didn't work very well was to wire on of my two cigarette lighter plugs to the always hot buss with larger wires and an 7.5 amp breaker. Then I could charger the battery with that.

My preference is to use the connector by the oil door.
 
i just power up the skyview on the backup battery and load it up. the amount that it brings the backup down is not that much and it recharges in the first few minutes of the flight.

bob burns
 
I wired up an external Piper style plug receptacle per the Aero?lectric plans and it works great. I already had a set of external cables with the Piper male plug that I got at an air show aero mart for $10. Any FBO anywhere should have a set if you don?t carry your own. It was very convenient when building and testing stuff to use a spare battery on the shop floor for power. I didn?t buy my ship?s battery until the day before first engine start. Having the external plug has saved my bacon a couple of times in the field. Very good return for small investment (receptacle, relay, switch, etc). I once saw a guy who?s main battery relay failed in a remote area and he simply swapped his identical external plug relay as an emergency field repair to get home.
 
Us too.

As with the last post and if we are taking an 8 here. We used a Cessna type plug and mounted it with a 4130 shop made bracket to the engine mount in the upper right corner at an angle, up and forward. So you could just open the oil filler door and plug into it. We placed it so you could plug in and still service the oil and get your hand down in and around to pull the cowling pins out. The ground side went to the engine mount and the positive to the battery side of the master relay. We have a set of jumper cables made with #4 welding cable about 25 feet long with auto clamps on one end and the mate to the receiver on the other end. This lets us put an auto batter off under a bench with an automatic trickle charger on it as a buffer so we can run all day with hangar flying jobs. Then if we leave the master on over night, like does happen we can just charge back up or get a jump if we are on the road someplace and need one. I like the others like to roll up my jumper cable and take it along on long trips like KOSH. Just what we did. Yours, R.E.A. III # 80888
 
For those of you who chose a spam can plug, any reason Cessna over Piper or Piper over Cessna? (perish the thought for them to have chosen the same design....).
 
It isn’t really Piper vs Cessna, it’s round vs flat. I used to have a Socata that had the round “Piper” style which seems more prevalent in smaller aircraft whereas the flat one is used even in large biz aircraft. Most FBO’s have start carts or at least cables with both.
I chose the round one because the components are smaller, lighter, and cheaper and because Bob Nuckles of Aero’lectric fame had simple plans available for modifying and installing the assembly. The round one available at Spruce is also designed for external application with a spring door. The flat designs that I found at the time were open requiring a recessed protected installation. I installed mine in the aft lower fuselage where the cable run to the battery would be short and the distance to the prop long for whomever has to pull the plug after a field start.
 
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For those of you who chose a spam can plug, any reason Cessna over Piper or Piper over Cessna? (perish the thought for them to have chosen the same design....).

The ?Piper? style is actually a standard plug and socket in the trucking industry. truck parts are WAY less expecnsive than airplane parts......;)
 
No.

For those of you who chose a spam can plug, any reason Cessna over Piper or Piper over Cessna? (perish the thought for them to have chosen the same design....).

The FBO's on the road will have both. We had Used the Cessna Type quite a bit on other singles and twins and found it to be more robust for a heavy jump as we like to use #2 Battery cable in the airframe installation. Very little chance of much voltage drop on a jump with good cables or a ground cart. If I want to hangar fly for a few hours or what ever it takes I just keep the cable curled up at my work bench, go open the oil filler door, stretch out the cable and plug in. If I have not been up in a week or two and the weather is good and cold like it has been, I will go out and plug into the ground power while I am getting ready and doing a good per-flight, to top up the battery a little before a start cycle. Just our two cents. Yours, R.E. A. III # 80888
 
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I used a Powerpole panel mount receptacle, mounted in the sub panel to feed in this type of ground power. This one handles 45A, and tied it into the non-battery side of the master relay:

https://powerwerx.com/panelpole-panel-mount-powerpole-housing

For the actual power source, I used a Ham Radio DC power supply, similar to this:

https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-012320

This is of course for shore power for the avionics only, not for starting the plane with a dead battery, like the intended purpose of the external Piper and Cessna connectors.
 
The “Piper” style is actually a standard plug and socket in the trucking industry. truck parts are WAY less expecnsive than airplane parts......;)

I have googled Piper style plug with so many different results that I can't make sense of them.

Could someone post a link or photo of the Piper style plug?
 
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There is also a diagram and part number in the aero lectric plans link that I posted. The part needs to be modified in order to more readily attach the cable.
As Paul mentioned, the part itself comes from the trucking industry. Piper was most likely the first to widely use it, hence the nickname.
 
Why not just a cigarette lighter plug, mounted under the panel instead of on it. Wire it to power avionics only, on the ground.

Car shops use the cars auto plug to keep the ECU programmed when they disconnect the batteries to do work on them. They plug a power source into the cigarette lighter.
 
Why not just a cigarette lighter plug, mounted under the panel instead of on it. Wire it to power avionics only, on the ground.

Car shops use the cars auto plug to keep the ECU programmed when they disconnect the batteries to do work on them. They plug a power source into the cigarette lighter.

You can trickle charge through a cigar lighter. You can't do a jump start that way.
 
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