Wiring a Sailplane

On Dec 11, 6:51 pm, toad wrote:
On Dec 11, 4:59 pm, Todd wrote:

Very Good suggestions. And while you are at it, be prepared to spend
some serious $$ on the proper tools. I use nothing but AMP PIDG
connectors crimped by a genuine APF PIDG Crimp tool. My tefzel wire
is stripped using the correct mil spec stripper( Ideal Industries
Custom Stripmaster(R) Wire Stripper 16-26 AWG wire Item ID:45-1987http://www.idealindustries.com). Probably near $300 worth of tools
there. Ideally, leave your soldering iron at home.

Oh, come on. Do you really think that the low temperature (compared
to near a running engine) and low vibration environment of a glider
requires such expensive connections ?

Todd
3S

Oh come on are you kidding? If you really don't know what you are
doing and don't have the right tools then go find a good A&P (or if
the aircraft is certified you'll need one to supervise and sign off
you work anyhow). I'd argue that doing things properly the first time
is not really expensive compared to the cost of downtime, time spend
chasing down problems and safety risks.

If I only I had a dollar for every mangled piece of glider wiring I've
seen... including do it yourself, or certain glider manufactures or
occasionally a clueless A&Ps (but most USA A&Ps I've run into seem to
have higher electrical wiring standards than many glider
manufactueres). Stand around a typical glider port for long enough and
you'll hear people complaining about radio reception, battery life,
transponder operation or some other electrical problems and when you
poke around inside their glider it is often not surprising why.

To start with if you are using those cheap single action crimp tools
you are probably wasting your time - yes it might work now but the
joints are likely not good quality. Crimp connectors need huge
pressure to work properly, think swaging metals together to form a
surface cold weld not just squeezing the connector enough to
mechanically hold onto the wire. You should be using good quality
ratcheting type crimpers with the correct die set to suit the
connector.

There are many reasons to use quality nylon jacketed crimp connectors
besides just heat exposure, they are much stronger and the jacket
resists slipping off better than with PVC jacketed connectors - and
usually the insulators slipping off is cause by damage during crimping
(improper/cheap crimp tools again) and/or excessive handling of the
wiring.

That proper crimp also totally seals the joint against moisture and
moisture related corrosion - that can be an issue in gliders stored in
humid trailers etc. And keep that soldering iron away from crimp
connectors, soldering after the crimp can do damage and pretinning the
wire before crimping is very bad. I completely agree on keeping the
soldering iron at home - as strange as it may seem at first but
properly done crimp connections are more reliable than solder
connections, and they are easier to do.

Like other have said I would not use anything but Tefzel wire
especially in potential abrasion areas such as harnesses that flex
when canopies with attached instrument panels move, etc. Tefzel wire
does require a special stripper for clean strips, you can get away
with a standard high quality stripper at times, but you might be able
to borrow Tefzel one from a friendly A&P. Another good source in the
USA of Tefzel wire is Stein Air http://www.steinair.com/wire.htm
Another reason to use Tefzel aviation wire is it is fully tinned and
much more resistant to corrosion than the usual untinned PVC coated
junk at hardware/auto parts stores.

Darryl