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What Wire for Wiring?

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n8vim(at)arrl.net
Guest

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 4:33 pm Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

Hey Y'all!



    What type of wire should I use for wiring? Teflon? Tefzel? Tin 

coated copper? silver coated copper?

I looked at wiremasters.net, and it appears that for 14ga. Tefzel, the 

length is 1,200ft. I'm quite sure I don't need THAT much, especially in 

only one color.  (What am I doing wrong?)



Also, does anyone have an initial "shopping list" of wire that you 

bought to start off with? Would you mind sharing it?



-Jim 40384, deburring bottom wing skins

rene(at)felker.com
Guest

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 4:42 pm Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

I ordered mine by foot from Stein.



http://www.steinair.com/



Rene'

40322

N423CF

Finish Kit and a lot more.......

801-721-6080

--

Tim(at)MyRV10.com
Guest

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 5:10 pm Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

For most things, Tefzel.   Also, wiremasters.net will send you whatever

lengths you want (at least they did for me).  Buy extra, it's cheap.

Your needs will vary greatly if you are going to wire your own

panel.  Plan ahead, and determine loads for things like landing

lights and such, and add up all of the different wire lengths

you'll plan to run to each area of the airplane.  Don't be afraid to

order an extra 100 or 200' of the most common sizes or even some

of the others.  You'll find wiremasters has great prices, and if you

run short after your initial order and needs small quantities from

some other place, you'll find the price much higher...so better to

spend it initially with good planning..



Tim

do not archive



James Hein wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   

 

 Hey Y'all!

 

    What type of wire should I use for wiring? Teflon? Tefzel? Tin coated 

 copper? silver coated copper?

 I looked at wiremasters.net, and it appears that for 14ga. Tefzel, the 

 length is 1,200ft. I'm quite sure I don't need THAT much, especially in 

 only one color.  (What am I doing wrong?)

 

 Also, does anyone have an initial "shopping list" of wire that you 

 bought to start off with? Would you mind sharing it?

 

 -Jim 40384, deburring bottom wing skins

AV8ORJWC

Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 1149
Location: Aurora, Oregon "Home of VANS"

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 6:55 pm Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

James, If you decide on the full spool, let me know your surplus.  I am

getting a passion for used tools, and supplies.  I think there is a

market.  One of our mechanics at work used to be a Snap-On dealer and is

unloading $20,000 of left over product.



The question will be is that Snap-On retail pricing or dealer cost. I

will post if the prices are reasonable.



Your wire pursuit interests me. Continue the hunt.



John Cox 40600

Do not Archive



--

dlm46007(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 8:22 pm Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

[quote] For the guy who originally asked the wiring question.......



 You should try and standardize on a few sizes and buy that in quantity of

 100 ft or 500 ft spools. Obviously you will need no more than 20 ft of 002

 for the starter to battery contactors. The aircraft mechanics handbook 

 which

 is a good reference for a lot of subjects, has diagrams for the load

 carrying capabilities of the various sizes in free air and in conduits. 

 You

 want to be able to carry at least 300A in the starter circuit.



 I bought 3 sizes besides the 002; they were 8, 14,20 . These were standard

 aircraft wiring. I also bought several short spools of size 22 shielded

 pairs, triplets and quads. These come in handy when you want to reduce the

 chance of RFI in things like magnetometers, digital lines to servos,etc. 

 you

 will also probably need to buy a 50-100 ft piece of RG400 for the 

 antennas.



 Another consideration is segregating the digital lines from the heavy DC 

 or

 pulsating DC where possible. For example in my aircraft the starter wiring

 passes through the left side of the aircraft, while the trim, AP servo

 harness, GADAHRS harness, magnetometer, OAT circuits are down the right

 side.



 Another consideration is switchable breakers for operating the appliances

 and pullable breakers for all other items. A little more expensive but

 simple because every appliance has its own bus position. Bus bars can be

 made from copper strips purchased from Aircraft Spruce. They are .5" x 

 .125"

 x 24". Buy drilling holes at regular intervals along the copper bar a very

 low resistance distribution of bus voltage is achieved.



 I tried the picture and it did not come through, email

 me directly if you want a picture.



> Do not Archive

>

> --

dlm46007(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 8:27 pm Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

For the guy who originally asked the wiring question.......

 You should try and standardize on a few sizes and buy that in quantity of

 100 ft or 500 ft spools. Obviously you will need no more than 20 ft of 002

 for the starter to battery contactors. The aircraft mechanics handbook

 whichis a good reference for a lot of subjects, has diagrams for the load

[quote]> carrying capabilities of the various sizes in free air and in conduits. 

> You

> want to be able to carry at least 300A in the starter circuit.

>

> I bought 3 sizes besides the 002; they were 8, 14,20 . These were 

> standard

> aircraft wiring. I also bought several short spools of size 22 shielded

> pairs, triplets and quads. These come in handy when you want to reduce 

> the

> chance of RFI in things like magnetometers, digital lines to servos,etc. 

> you

> will also probably need to buy a 50-100 ft piece of RG400 for the 

> antennas.

>

> Another consideration is segregating the digital lines from the heavy DC 

> or

> pulsating DC where possible. For example in my aircraft the starter 

> wiring

> passes through the left side of the aircraft, while the trim, AP servo

> harness, GADAHRS harness, magnetometer, OAT circuits are down the right

> side.

>

> Another consideration is switchable breakers for operating the appliances

> and pullable breakers for all other items. A little more expensive but

> simple because every appliance has its own bus position. Bus bars can be

> made from copper strips purchased from Aircraft Spruce. They are .5" x 

> .125"

> x 24". Buy drilling holes at regular intervals along the copper bar a 

> very

> low resistance distribution of bus voltage is achieved.

>

> I tried the picture and it did not come through, email

> me directly if you want a picture.

>

>> Do not Archive

>>

>> --

stein(at)steinair.com
Guest

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 9:05 pm Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

Hi James,



Stick with the standard M22759/16 Tefzel wire...don't bother with teflon,

silver plated, etc...or surplus stuff (you never know what you're getting).

Also, if you spend more than a few hours "hunting" for a deal, you've just

wasted enough time to buy what you want and what you need brand new.

Depending on what you're doing with the plane and panel, buy at least the

following initially:



200' AWG22

200' AWG18

150' AWG16

50' AWG20

50' AWG14

25' AWG12

25' AWG10

100' RG-400 Coax

a dozen male BNC's, a half dozen female BNC's, a couple hundred PIDG ring

terminals, and some heatshrink.



Now, depending on if you want colors or not you can split all that up.  The

above wiring amounts could vary pretty significantly depending on if you're

wiring your own panel or not, whether you're going full boat on lighting,

radios, IFR/VFR, etc..  I wouldn't waste my time buying whole spools then

trying to sell the surplus.  Heck, wire is relatively cheap, we're talking

about something that costs pennies per foot...you'll only spend a couple/few

hundred bucks of wire total.  Why waste your time goofing

around.......figure out what you need, what colors you want and just buy it.

As someone who regularly buys wire in 10,000' - 20,000' spools and keeps

over a half million feet of wire "hanging around", I can tell you playing

with spools to save a few percent is a waste of time on an item like this,

for one airplane.  With your Avionics or engine it's a different story

because you can save a lot of dough, but in the wiring it's such a cheap

item to begin with that it's not worth much effort to save a buck.



Just my 2 cents as usual!



Cheers,

Stein.



--

Tim(at)MyRV10.com
Guest

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:07 am Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

Stein gave some good info below, but I think his quantities on the

wires are way short for most RV-10's.



My initial order was:



100ft EACH of 7 different colored wires 22 ga

300ft white 22ga

300ft white 20ga

500ft white 18ga

100ft white 16ga

100ft white 14ga

100ft white 12ga



Things I can't find right now were how much twisted pair shielded

wire I got.



I think I got 200' of triplet wire and probably 300' or more of

single pair shielded.  If you're not doing your own panel or

harnesses for avionics, a lot of this could change greatly, but

I don't have a lot of wire left over.   Also, the lightweight

purists would gasp, but there were times where I ran out of things

like 18ga, so I ran a 16 (I think I ordered some 10ga and maybe

some additional 12ga later), and I think I ran 12 in place of 14

on a run too, rather than re-order wire.  Wire is bought cheaper

in quantity than in short sections, and you're better off ordering

much more than you need than paying additional shipping charges.

I didn't have mine as well planned as I should have when I ordered

the wire.



Stein has great prices on heatshrink and ring terminals too, so

if you're doing your own panel I'd highly recommend Stein's

ring terminal KIT.  Beyond that, you may want to add some additional

terminals to it.  I have some extras left over for sure, but

it was very nice to just dig into the kit and have them there

rather than try to order the exact quanity...and the kit had

it's own separation sections.   I ordered at least 25' of

3 or 4 different sized heatshrink.  Stein's prices are great

on that, and I find it useful on other projects too.



Stein is right that it wouldn't at all pay to buy large

spools and sell it off later.  Just buy some good round

numbered lengths and try to overestimate.  You'll be

surprised how cheap wire actually is.  My first order was

just over $200, and then I added some of the shielded pairs

and RG-400, but I'd be surprised if my total wire outlay

was over $400 or $450.  It's pretty much insignificant

in the cost of the plane. (Heck, anything under $1000 is

nothing to the RV-10).



Sticking with white wire will make it easier to put together

an order for the proper amounts.  Some people like to use

1 color for signals and hots, like Red for hots, white for

signals, and black for grounds.  Some people like to use

multiple colors for things to make them more traceable.

If you're building your own AP harnesses, then it is kind

of nice to buy separate colors for those, which is what I

used some of my 100' lengths of colored on.  I also used

some red and black throughout the panel.  For the most part

though, I used white.  Buy some skinny heatshrink to put over

wire labels.



While you're at it, if you're getting wire or anything

else from Stein, pick up a bunch of tools.  His prices

were great on those too.  If you do your own antenna wires,

get the RG-400 crimper and definitely get his side cutters.  The

large cutter he sells works awesome on #2 welding wire.



As far as antenna connectors for that RG-400, check your

antennas.  I found I also needed 4 or more TNC connectors,

as well as BNC.  The WSI and the GNS-480 use TNC.



Oh, and if you're going to go with some fuses and some breakers,

Stein has good prices and selection on the fuse panels and fuses.



Can you tell that once you start wiring you've opened the

box?   It's a lot of miscellaneous stuff, but you'll

absolutely save some money doing it, and go away with some

cool tools for your toolbox too.  (Or sell them to the next

guy)



Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD - Flying

do not archive

Stein Bruch wrote:

[quote] 

 

 Hi James,

 

 Stick with the standard M22759/16 Tefzel wire...don't bother with teflon,

 silver plated, etc...or surplus stuff (you never know what you're getting).

 Also, if you spend more than a few hours "hunting" for a deal, you've just

 wasted enough time to buy what you want and what you need brand new.

 Depending on what you're doing with the plane and panel, buy at least the

 following initially:

 

 200' AWG22

 200' AWG18

 150' AWG16

 50' AWG20

 50' AWG14

 25' AWG12

 25' AWG10

 100' RG-400 Coax

 a dozen male BNC's, a half dozen female BNC's, a couple hundred PIDG ring

 terminals, and some heatshrink.

 

 Now, depending on if you want colors or not you can split all that up.  The

 above wiring amounts could vary pretty significantly depending on if you're

 wiring your own panel or not, whether you're going full boat on lighting,

 radios, IFR/VFR, etc..  I wouldn't waste my time buying whole spools then

 trying to sell the surplus.  Heck, wire is relatively cheap, we're talking

 about something that costs pennies per foot...you'll only spend a couple/few

 hundred bucks of wire total.  Why waste your time goofing

 around.......figure out what you need, what colors you want and just buy it.

 As someone who regularly buys wire in 10,000' - 20,000' spools and keeps

 over a half million feet of wire "hanging around", I can tell you playing

 with spools to save a few percent is a waste of time on an item like this,

 for one airplane.  With your Avionics or engine it's a different story

 because you can save a lot of dough, but in the wiring it's such a cheap

 item to begin with that it's not worth much effort to save a buck.

 

 Just my 2 cents as usual!

 

 Cheers,

 Stein.

 

 --

wv4i(at)bellsouth.net
Guest

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 5:17 am Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

Take a look at www.AeroElectric.com articles, etc... Huge library of 

articles, how to's, schematics, reference info. Aircraft wiring....want 

stranded wire of proper gauge for anticipated load(s) and length, and 

properly breakered to protect the wire (yes, the wire,,,this will spur 

discussion, I'm sure), with a non-toxic insulation, 

i.e.teflon/zel/whatever (when hot or on fire)...beyond that, the 

considerations and options go forth....



Link Mcgarity

RV10/#40622 elevator

RV6/N42GF/flying (all new instrument panel, and wiring thereto in 2004)

jwt(at)roadmapscoaching.c
Guest

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:13 pm Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

Jim.



Strongly recommend you get and read the Aeroelectric Connection by Bob

Nuckels. Also Stein at SteinAir has been incredibly helpful to me and sells

wire by the foot. If you email me direct I can give you some other

resources.



John Testement

jwt(at)roadmapscoaching.com

40321

Richmond, VA

Finish kit - wheel fairings, wiring panel

 



--

AV8ORJWC

Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 1149
Location: Aurora, Oregon "Home of VANS"

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:55 pm Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

Okay Tim, I'll bite.  What is your price for the sale of your cool

wiring tools? I am ready with Cash $$.



You were kidding?? Oh, Okay, can you list the cool electrical wiring

tools you won't sell as a start point for beginner's.



John



--

Tim(at)MyRV10.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 3:25 am Post subject: What Wire for Wiring?

You're correct to assume I'm not parting with any electrical tools.

Riveting tools some day may go (I doubt it) but electrical, never.

I use them all the time for other projects.



But, here's a good list for you since it's basically most of them.

http://www.steinair.com/tools.htm



Tim

John W. Cox wrote:

[quote] 

 

 Okay Tim, I'll bite.  What is your price for the sale of your cool

 wiring tools? I am ready with Cash $$.

 

 You were kidding?? Oh, Okay, can you list the cool electrical wiring

 tools you won't sell as a start point for beginner's.

 

 John

 

 --

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