What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Ground Power Plug

flywithme623

flywithme623

Active Member
I have designed and build a GPU plug in my plane today.
I thought maybe others amy be interested to see that for new ideas.
I installed it and the aft of bulkhead F-808 with a door on the bottom of the tail-cone. Please feel free to contact me for any questions.
1001131a.jpg

1001130xk.jpg
 
Last edited:
I simply put the plug inside the oil door for my Black and Decker battery charger, very close to the battery. The charger is light and I keep it in my tool bag, just in case.

A friend's RV has a similar setup but uses the round plug clamped to the engine mount, inside the oil door.

Granted, that won't work with a -10 but for the two seat RV’s (not counting the -12, but it might work for them as well), it is a light and simple solution.
 
Last edited:
I was primarily thinking of a way to start the engine if the battery would be too low for a start. And also charge the battery of cause. The idea of having the plug in front of the wing, close to the prop was a little to close for comfort. I like to stay away from a spinning prop. So the best resolution was back there. I also do have my battery back there that makes it easy for me.
 
Last edited:
I use an Anderson plug, which is small and well insulated. I have it mounted inside the cockpit inside the cockpit, so that I can unplug and toss the jumper cable overboard after starting. Perfectly safe.
 
Yen said:
I use an Anderson plug, which is small and well insulated. I have it mounted inside the cockpit inside the cockpit, so that I can unplug and toss the jumper cable overboard after starting. Perfectly safe.
Click to expand...


That sounds very interesting. Do you have a picture?
 
Nice!

Nice job Michael! I like it. I've been procrastinating on the idea of a external power receptacle. I like how you solved the issue!
 
Yen said:
I use an Anderson plug, which is small and well insulated. I have it mounted inside the cockpit inside the cockpit, so that I can unplug and toss the jumper cable overboard after starting. Perfectly safe.
Click to expand...

Good move!

When I first built my plane I put a dual cigarette lighter plug. One plug was wired to the always hot buss with some heavy wire and a 7.5 A fuse. That way I could plug a charger directly to the plug. The second plug was wired to the avionics buss so I could leave something plugged in.

The only problem with this is that you have leave your canopy open while plugged in. That is why I added the plug directly off the battery which is mounted next to the oil door.

Note, both methods I suggest are not suitable for jumping your plane as the wires are too small. However, they work great with a battery tender.
 
Van's reply

Just in case anyone is interested,
After a brief inquiry at Van's tech support I got the following response with the typical Van's disclaimer.

"It looks like your application should be adequate with the doubler you added but keep in mind
we have never done this and can not guarantee this will be fine.
Van's"

I got trusted opinions from EAA Tech Counselors and am happy with my decision.
 
Cockpit

Dug through some old pictures. I mounted mine in the cockpit so that if jumped I could make sure it was disconnected. It is a heavy plug but the wire run is very short. I did not want to carry an adapter jumper plug and wanted something commonly found at most airport FBOs.

It doubles as the BATT charger connector. The switch has 3 positions, CHARGE, OFF, and GROUND MASTER. Made the spring cover using a spring from a chip bag clip.

1484879img.jpg


1484874img.jpg


1484878img.jpg
 
Last edited:
I am having trouble inserting an image of the anderson plug.There are two identical parts, which join together and have connectors along the lines of a large molex conector, suitable for wire to take up to 70 amps. Each plug is 2" * 1.5" * 5/8" They are made by Anderson Power Products.
What I like about them is they are easy to fix in place, the wires are connected by swaging, easy to connect and disconnect and lightweight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top