Oshkosh, CDI, Transponder mounting

Looks like I'm headed to Oshkosh. I've wanted to go but didn't want to spend the $$ to get there. Our chapter program director is riding his Goldwing up on Thursday, so I'm going to ride with him. I'm shipping a box up with a sleeping bag and some clothes. I'll find a place to camp out. Still working on a way back, since Chuck is continuing on to Canada.

My 209A CDI arrived also! It is perfect.. brand new. I'm very happy with it. (Sometimes eBay pays off... most places sell them for $1295, I paid $955.)

So some real work.... I finished mounting the Garmin transponder tray. I flush mounted it as well. You'll see in the picture it's positioned a bit odd on the panel. The plan is to install a small map box underneath it and eventually a Dynon D-10A will go up above it. I haven't fabricated the map box yet, so I didn't want to cut any holes yet. Included pictures of the other radio's mounted as well.







(Time: 2 Hours)

Radio racks

Nearly the entire day was spent cutting holes in the panel for the radio's and moutning the racks for them. LOTS of filing. I decided to flush mount the radio's, so they look good.

To get the face of the radios flush, I used a piece of 1.5 x 1.5 x .125 angle. I cut one side down to 3/4" which was riveted to the panel. The 1.5" face of the other side allowed the tray's to sit farther back. I positioned the trays, marked the holes with a sharpie, drilled and tapped the holes for the tray. The audio panel was a bit more of a pain since it was substantially narrower than the King trays.

I also cut the hole for the EIS 4000 engine monitor and the hole for the transponder. I need to get the tray mounted for the transponder, and mount the CDI when it comes tomorrow, then I can bring the whole panel in the house and commence wiring.

(Time: 8 Hours)

Transponder wiring harness

I made up the first avionics wiring harness tonight... wiring the blind encoder to the transponder and gps. The kln-89b needs altitude as well. This harness was pretty easy.

(Time: 2 Hours)

Panel work

I continue to fight the panel layout. I decided to do some 'practice' cutting and fitting of the avionics using my old panel. First I cut out a hole for the EIS engine monitor. Then I took the panel in the house to see how the radios would look. Yesterday I decided to move the transponder over to the right side since I couldn't get everything to fit in the center. So I stacked the transponder, garmin panel mount box and a cut-out of the dynon and dag nabbit, there isn't enough room! It might fit but it would push the dynon clear to the top and the transponder clear to the bottom, so it wouldn't look very good. After trying a few other re-arrangments, I concluded that the panel mount garmin just isn't going to work. I confirmed with Sandi (since that is her side of the panel) what she wanted to do and she agreed that we can take the garmin out of the panel and just mount it diagonally somehow in the corner area of the panel. (Matt Burch did this on his RV-9A and it looked good.) So, in the center radio stack I'll have audio panel, KLN-89B, KX 155 and EIS engine monitor. On the right side in front of Sandi will have the Dynon and the transponder below it. This will also leave room for a small compartment for maps and such. It would be 6.25" wide and only a couple inches tall but that should be plenty. Some day it could turn into another radio slot or something if needed.

I removed all the instruments from the real panel and took it out of the plane, I should starting cutting holes for real this weekend. Debating whether to try and flush mount all the radios or leave them stick out like traditional panels do.

(Time: 2.5 Hours)

Avionics racks

I pulled out all my avionics and made a mess on the dining room table. I assembled the racks for the transponder and audio panel. I stacked all the radio's up and took a snapshot.



What's not on this stack is the engine monitor. Later I measured the height of my stack and the height on my panel and discovered that it's too high! AGGGHH! Stupid ePanel builder website isn't accurate, in my case, not even close. So my tip is to not use epanel builder website for anything more than generalization. Remember, the top 3/4" of the panel is unusable because the support angle and tip-up frame and the bottom 1/2" is unusable because this is where the curve of the panel is that makes the flange on the bottom edge. I think I measure 8.5" of usable height.

So I'll be moving the transponder over underneath the Garmin 196/396 on Sandi's side. That will give me some extra room in the center. Glad I measured before cutting anything.

(Time: 1.5 Hours)

Pilot side eyeball light, fuel gauge wiring

Really went to shop just to figure out some parts I need to order from ACS and Van's but Sandi hopped on the mower for awhile, so I soldered on some wire leads to the eyeball light and then blind riveted the pilot side spar cap in place.

I also crimped some terminals on the fuel sender wires and attached them to the fuel gauges. Realized I didn't run a power wire for the gauges, so I'll have to do that next time I'm out.

Tip-up Builders Note: The two angles that hold the canopy latch handles on the side of the fuse interfere with pulling one of the rivets for the spar cap. No reason to not rivet on the spar cap before the canopy latch handles unless you plan on trying to run wires behind it. I'll probably just 'glue' a rivet head in the hole to make it look right.

PS: I really wasn't wanting to buy one yet... but a 209A CDI came up on eBay with a buy-it-now at a good price, so I jumped on it.





(Time: 2 Hours)

Putzing with wire

I finished running wires for the autopilot servo's. Snaked two #20 wires back to the aft fuse and ran all the wires to the right side for the wing level servo. I tiddied up the wires some in hopes that I'm done _running_ wires throughout the fuselage area. I still have several to hook up.

I pulled out my center post/console piece and mounted the fuel gauges, low-fuel warning lights and the ELT control head. I had to make a trip up to B&B for some #6 and #4 screws. Once I had stuff mounted, I screwed the console in place. I'd bet it comes out again but I hope not. I still need to hook up all the wiring on this.

I mounted the little eyeball lights on the side cap pieces and soldered some wire to the leads. I went ahead and riveted on the passenger side cap with the blind rivets.

I also mounted the AE Fuel Guardian control box on the back side (forward side really) of the sub-panel.

That's about all I did all weekend... Sandi is back home, so maybe now I can get back into a routine. It's also been HOT. It was 99.5 in the shop on Saturday.

(Time: 6 Hours; 46.5 Total)

Avionics order

This week has been rough... at work.. so I haven't gotten any work done on the project this week. And with Sandi being out of town, my schedule is all screwed up. What's worse, is I had to cancel my trip to San Diego where Dan Checkoway scheduled a lunch fly-out for me. A real bummer!

I did just place an order with Van Bortel for a Garmin GTX-320 transponder and a PS Engineering PMA-6000MC audio panel. Those two items complete the components for my radio stack, so I can start working on that area of the panel.

Adding the E-Bus

Really wasn't too motivated to work on the plane today. Took Sandi to airport, trimmed some tree's in the yard, picked up walnuts in the yard. Finally made it to the shop and found some motivation.

I replaced the 28v bulbs in the position lights with 14v versions and tested their current draw. 1.8amps each.

Hooked an MR16 bulb up to see what it's current draw was. I think it came out at 5.68 or something. There was quite a bit of inrush current though.. 6.7 or so. I wrote it down, just don't remember what it was.

I really wasn't planning on the e-bus setup that AeroElecrtic advocates since I have a somewhat basic panel and thought I'd just turn off things I don't need in event of alternator failure. The one 'scenario' I couldn't work around however was a failed battery contactor. Since the e-bus will feed off the battery directly, this takes care of that problem. So I mounted the additional fuse block and wired it up to a switch and the diode.

I also went ahead and mounted the fuel selector valve and hand-tightended the fittings.

(Time: 2.5 Hours)

Wire Sizing

Got an email from a builder asking how I was picking wire sizes. I have a pretty good understanding of electrical things but don't know much about this stuff other than what I've read (AeroElectric) and what I've been taught (Ray Doerr). I've also been relying a lot on what others are doing.

Here is the formula you need: 700 / (Amps * Wire Loss)

Some explanation. That formula will give you a maximum length of a wire, round-trip (from fuse block to device, back to ground block) assuming a 5% loss. AeroElectric advocates a 5% or less energy loss on a wire. 14 volts * 5% = .7 volts (hence the 700 in the above formula). I'm told that 5% is CONSERVATIVE. Next, the AMPS in the above formula should be the fuse rating, not necessarily the device current. If the wire shorts out, that is how much current it will draw until the fuse pops. The Wire Loss in the formula comes from the table in AeroElectric. (12 ga = 1.59 milliohms per foot, 14 ga = 2.53, 16 ga = 4.01, 18ga = 6.39, 20 = 10.2 and 22 ga = 16.1)

So let's run through an example, the landing light. A 100 watt landing light will draw about 7 amps. (100w/14v=7.1a) Since most builders use 14 ga wire for the landing light, let's start with that as a test. 700 / (7.1 * 2.53) = 38.9 ft max. But wait.. 7.1 amps is the running current of the lamp... two problems. First, when you first switch on that lamp, it will draw more than 7.1 amps for a brief period. Second, 7.1 amps is the device current, not the fuse size. We could use a 7.5 amp fuse but it might pop from the inrush current, so we'll go to 10amps. The formula now reads 700 / (10 * 2.53) = 27.6 feet max (10 feet less than before.) On an RV, 27 ft round trip for a landing light is probably real close and since 5% loss is conservative, 14 gauge wire makes sense for the landing light.

So using that formula, you can calculate what wire size you need. Another important item is to measure the ACTUAL current a device draws.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way qualified to educate anyone on things electrical. The above is merely what I've learned and quite possibly, could be wrong. I'm sure after review, those more knowledgable will point out any flaws, in which case I will make corrections. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions. I do hope that the above helps though, it took me 2 weeks to get my head wrapped around it.

Visitor, instrument mounting and more wiring.

Wish I could come up with more creative titles for my entries but when working with wire, there just isn't anything you can say. :-)

Matt Burch came for a visit this morning, so I spent some time earlier cleaning up the shop. Things sure get dirty in a hurry. We yacked for a couple of hours and he headed on home.

I started working on the panel again. I drilled holes for the keyed mag switch and the 5-amp breaker for the alternator field wire. I spent way to much time getting a perfect fit for the VSI that needs a cut-out in the lower left. On my first panel, the cut-out was horrible.. too big and wrong shape. I also mounted the AH and ASI. Starting to look like a real airplane when you see instruments in the panel!




I ran 6 #22 wires back to the tail cone for the altitude hold servo. I won't have it initially but having the wires already back there will make it easy to install later. I need to order some #20 wire to run back there was well. I pulled a string through my conduit to use later as a pull-string.

While I was sitting inside, I went ahead and cinched up a bunch of the zip ties and cleaned up the wires, tying them where needed. I need to run some wires to the right side of the fuse for the wing level servo and I think the wiring in the fuse area will be done! I still have all the avioncis wiring to do.

I pulled out the fuel selector plate and put a couple of nutplates on it and mounted the selector valve. As soon as I run the last few wires in the middle fuselage area, I'll mount that permanently. I'll have some wiring to do on the center console for the fuel gauges and low-level fuel monitor.



Bonus picture. Sandi and I were sitting in the shop talking and Winnie (the cat..) climbed up and made himself at home. He's been a bit attention starved since becoming an outside cat and can be quite pathetic as Sandi puts it. :-) He'd stay like this for hours if I let him.

(Time: 6 Hours)

Battery wired.. things go click.

My 2nd B&C ordered arrived with some replacement cables and a few other goodies. I'm a little annoyed... Todd called to ask if I wanted the terminals put on the #8 wire I ordered, I said no but they came attached anyway. So I had to enlarge the hole in the firewall to get the terminal through. Oh well..

I spent some time connecting the new battery cables and putting the rubber booties on all the exposed areas. Crimped a few ends and hooked up the master switch. Flipped the switch and sure enough I heard the Master kick in!

Battery ground cable

Battery positive cable run.

Contactor wiring.

In the above picture... the arrow points to the hole for the #8 wire running to the main fuse block. It's tight in this area but this allowed for a very short run from the terminal up the block (17") and limits the exposure of the wire in the engine compartment.

(Time: 2 Hours)

Ring Terminal Sizes

FYI.

The studs on the fuse blocks take #10 ring terminals and so do the smaller studs on the battery and starter contactor. The larger studs on the contactors are 5/16". The screws on the Odyssey battery are 7/32" which equates to an M6 ring terminal. So when ordering cables, ask for the M6.

I wouldn't recommend ordering the 5 or 8-position heavy duty terminal strips from SteinAir. They are HUGE. I'll be returning mine. I found smaller versions from B&B Aircraft Supply in Gardner, KS. While I'm thinking about it, don't get the accessory outlets from Stein either... they don't come with a way to attach them to anything. Not sure how they expect you to install them. (I have had very good service from SteinAir, not slamming them..)

Few more wires, panel punched

Ran a few more wires, punched holes in the instrument panel, installed the oil and fuel pressure sensors on the firewall.



(Time: 2.5 Hours)

Wire diddling

My order from B&C arrived, so I was excited to get out in the shop and wire up the battery. Too bad I screwed up the order. I had 3/8" terminals put on because that is what I thought I saw on a website for the Odyessy battery terminals. They are actually about 7/32" in size. So that means I have to replace both cables I ordered. I also made some adjustments to the lengths. I made the battery (-) cable 8.5" and the battery (+) cable 15". The 12" maximum that B&C recommends just isn't long enough.

I strung a few more wires and finished wiring up the landing light flasher circuit.

(Time: 1.5 Hour)

Drilling switch holes, wiring switches

The time sure seems to fly when doing wiring. I made some adjustments to my panel layout to evenly space some instruments, then ran it by Sandi to make sure it seemed ok. I'll need to 'fill' one of the screw holes that won't be taken up by an instrument. I also drilled the holes for the switches (15/32").

I screwed the panel in place and started attaching wires to them and running power wires to the switches. I ran out of 14ga wire, so I'll need to order some more along with a few other miscellaneous parts.


Spent all day in the shop, up to my elbows in wires. I have a substantial portion of the wiring run in the fuselage (excepting avionics/instruments). It's amazing how many wires run everywhere! You figure two for each device: 2 nav lights, 2 landing lights, 3 position lights, 3 strobe lights, pitot/aoa tubings, VOR antenna, PTT wires. Yowser!

I really debated whether or not to put terminals at the wing roots to aid in the wiring process and in the end I decided to do it. It will just make things a bunch easier later on to hook the wires up instead of leaving big spools of wire on the outside of the fuse.

Panel in place with switches

Wiring the switches

Diode for wig-wag flashing Expensive route... two landing lights, one switch.

Manifold pressure box for EIS.

EGT/CHT wires coming out of firewall (Wouldn't be my first choice of location but this hole was there from where I incorrectly installed the brake reservoir.)


(Time: 6 Hours)

More wiring... new panel layout

Did some more wiring.. don't exactly remember what.. I had a dull headache all day and didn't feel up to par.. must have been the 10hr work session yesterday.

Also drew out new panel layout on my replacement panel.

(Time: 5? Hours)

Wires, wires and wires!

Spent all day in the shop, up to my elbows in wires. I have a substantial portion of the wiring run in the fuselage (excepting avionics/instruments). It's amazing how many wires run everywhere! You figure two for each device: 2 nav lights, 2 landing lights, 3 position lights, 3 strobe lights, pitot/aoa tubings, VOR antenna, PTT wires. Yowser!

I really debated whether or not to put terminals at the wing roots to aid in the wiring process and in the end I decided to do it. It will just make things a bunch easier later on to hook the wires up instead of leaving big spools of wire on the outside of the fuse.

Altitude encoder mounted - Mounted on pilot side.

Wiring down the center and up.

Pitot/AOA/Strobe/Marker Beacon

Pilot seat terminal block (PTT Switch/Ground for Nav light)

Pilot wing root terminal (Pitot/Landing Light)

Mic jac soldering (I'm learning to solder and think I'm doing OK so far.)

(Time: 10 Hours)