| Submitted By: | Fred.Stucklen@UTCFuelCells.com | ||
| Email List: | RV-List,RV6-List,RV9-List,RV7-List | ||
| Name: | Fred Stucklen | ||
| Date: | Jan 19 2003 | ||
| Subject: | Instrument Panel & Radio Stack Wiring | ||
| Description: | As promised, here's and update on the instrument panel & Radio stack wiring. I should note that I had completed all the basic wiring (lights, strobes, fuel pump/primer, regulator, etc) prior to starting the radio stack wiring. "Panel ON" shows the resultant panel powered up (Yes, it does work, and there was only one wire misplaced! -an audio output, no damage because I found it when I ohmed out the wiring.) "Radio Wiring1" shows the radio stack final bench level wiring completed. For complicated radio stacks, this is the best approach to do the job properly, and is the easiest... I' made an AutoCAD schematic of all the wiring prior to starting the wiring process. An extra copy was "Red Lined" as I installed each wire. When the bench level stack wiring was complete, all wiring was ohmed out again prior to installing the individual connectors onto the back of each radio tray. HINT: Mark the connectors to indicate pin #1, and then in 5 pin increments. Also mark the first pin # on each row if necessary. Mark the connector both front & rear. It makes counting pin numbers much easier and more accurate... Yes, it does require special pin crimping tools to perform this task. If you don't have access to them, or don't want to purchase them (they are expensive) then I would suggest that you have this part of the job done professionally... "Radio Wiring 2" shows the transponder tray installed. This was done because the antenna connecter mount to the tray would have been very difficult later on in the process. Note the terminal strips on the left side.... I'll get to those later in the descriptions... "Radio Wiring 3" shows the rest of the radio stack mounted into place, with the loose wiring bundles hanging out. This bundle consists of all the remaining fuselage wiring interconnects that cannot be performed on the bench (Power, GND, Dimmer, and other electronic interfaces). When wiring the radio trays, you want to be sure to leave these wires long enough to reach their final destination, or plan on a "splice"... "Radio Wiring 4" shows the almost completed wiring (the RS-232 connections between radios has not been completed). Note that the wires have been loosely bundled. You want to test everything prior to bundling up the wires. Also note that the radio tray connectors are strain relieved: in this case the UPS stack trays have areas where tie wraps can be attached to the back of the tray. You should also route your wire bundles such that you can "service" the radio connectors at a later date. About that terminal block I mentioned earlier: You should document what wires attach to each position of each terminal block you install. The easiest way to perform that task is to take a picture of the terminal block, crop the picture to show just the terminal block, and print it out. As you install each wire, not the wire source data on the picture. When you're all done wiring, go back and edit the picture and add it's printout to your planes documentation package (Schematics, panel layout particulars, pictures of installations, etc...). HINT: This is a great way to document FUSE sizes and function locations on the back of an access panel... Hope this helps... -Fred Stucklen RV-6A | ||
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Panel_ON.jpg | Photo 1 | |
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Radio_Wiring1.jpg | Photo 2 | |
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Radio_Wiring2.jpg | Photo 3 | |
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Radio_Wiring3.jpg | Photo 4 | |
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Radio_Wiring4.jpg | Photo 5 | |