Re: Wire sizes

Bob, we don't really disagree about much of anything in this discussion.

However, this is not an Advisory Circular. It is a discussion on "usenet" where opinions are like buttholes... everybody has one. That is why when I say "For power especially, use ONLY Tefzel" I am hoping that if folks do not pickup on anything else said in this exchange, they will remember that. It is the same reason that I say emphatically "ABSOLUTELY mount a 3-5 amp fuse on each battery!!!!!"

As you have surely found in your considerable experience, glider wiring as a whole is abysmal! If the plane is more than a couple of years old, there is going to be some sort of rube goldberg, thrown together battery connection, or what-have-you. So if they have a rats nest but somehow replaced the zipcord and speaker wire with Tefzel along the way, they will at least not be filling up the cockpit instantaneously with acrid, harmful smoke when the accidental short happens under the seatpan. And if they heard my second point and actually put a fuse on the battery, they will do nothing but blow the fuse and not roast their rump.

So, while I agree that if they used all the best aviation wiring practices that you mention below about organization, strain relief, abrasion free, etc. but chose to use Radio shack wire, they would most likely never have a problem. But that, from my experience, is never going to happen. Some of the brightest pilots I know somehow believe that when it comes to wiring, just throwing something together will suffice.

Regards,

Larry



"Bob Kuykendall" <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:b7ceb705-6510-4563-ba11-6c0aca5270de@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

On Jul 27, 5:29 am, "01-- Zero One" <la...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> For power especially, use ONLY Tefzel wire!

Here we are again. Is Tefzel the best stuff to use these days? Yeah,
pretty much, no disagreement there. Is it important to use good
materials? Yup, pretty important.

Is it the only stuff to use, the stuff that you must use? All-caps and
exclamation point aside, it depends. I have only a couple of always/
never rules about aircraft wiring, and they're about fuses, not
Tefzel.

Comparatively speaking, I happen to think that how you wire things is
more important than what you wire them with. Given the choice between
organized bundles, well supported, appropriately fused, protected from
abrasion, and kept away from moving parts, all executed in Electron
Hut automotive wire, versus a rats nest of unmarked white Tefzel going
every which way, I'll take my chances with the Electron Hut system.
But, that's just me.

I've written that all before. But here's some new information content:
Be careful about drilling holes around wiring bundles, especially
where you're drilling metal. In one of my current projects, we've
found chips of aluminum swarf embedded in the Tefzel insulation of
wires pretty deep within wiring bundles. We undertook a program to
unwrap every accessible wiring bundle and clean out the chips, and now
are taking special precautions to keep chips out in the first place.
It's certainly a thing to think on.

Thanks, Bob K.