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Solid Wire for Ground

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messydeer

Joined: 13 Feb 2006
Posts: 214
Location: Bellingham, WA

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 10:51 pm Post subject: Solid Wire for Ground

Hello!



I didn't have any Tefzel stranded 10awg for the ground wire for about a 3' run from my panel ground to my firwall ground. The little bit of soldering I've done so far has been sorta fun, so I figured I'd use a piece of solid 10awg wire I had laying around (non-Tefzel). Into a noninsulated 8awg ring, I put this solid wire in plus a tiny piece of 12awg stranded wire to bulk up the space. Crimped it down good in a couple places, then soldered. Although the thicker wires took a bit longer to heat up, it eventually got there. 



I figure if it's a ground wire, it won't heat up and be a primary source of fire, poisoning me with the plastic coating. The other concern I have is the solid wire. I know it's susceptible to cracking if it's bent back and forth a few times in a tight radius. That's not the case here, as I'm using maybe 1" radius corners. Would this be okay to use just for the ground wire with no tight bends?

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_________________
Dan

deej(at)deej.net
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 7:54 am Post subject: Solid Wire for Ground

On 11/15/2009 1:51 AM, messydeer wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   I figure if it's a ground wire, it won't heat up and be a primary source of fire, poisoning me with the plastic coating. 


	


Hi Dan,

	Since there is just as much current flowing through the ground wire as

the positive wire, it is possible for it to heat up as well.



-Dj



-- 

Dj Merrill - N1JOV

Glastar Sportsman 2+2 Builder #7118 N421DJ - http://deej.net/sportsman/

Grumman Yankee Driver N9870L - http://deej.net/yankee/

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nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
Guest

Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:40 am Post subject: Solid Wire for Ground

At 12:51 AM 11/15/2009, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  



Hello!



I didn't have any Tefzel stranded 10awg for the ground wire for 

about a 3' run from my panel ground to my firwall ground. The little 

bit of soldering I've done so far has been sorta fun, so I figured 

I'd use a piece of solid 10awg wire I had laying around 

(non-Tefzel). Into a noninsulated 8awg ring, I put this solid wire 

in plus a tiny piece of 12awg stranded wire to bulk up the space. 

Crimped it down good in a couple places, then soldered. Although the 

thicker wires took a bit longer to heat up, it eventually got there.



I figure if it's a ground wire, it won't heat up and be a primary 

source of fire, poisoning me with the plastic coating. The other 

concern I have is the solid wire. I know it's susceptible to 

cracking if it's bent back and forth a few times in a tight radius. 

That's not the case here, as I'm using maybe 1" radius corners. 

Would this be okay to use just for the ground wire with no tight bends?


	


    Use of solid wire is contrary to accepted practice

    in all manner of vehicle. It's recommended for stationary

    applications only.



    Where is your panel ground bus located? Is it mounted

    on or close to some panel support structure that is

    not subject to periodic removal from the airplane?



        Bob . . .



         ---------------------------------------

        ( It's MATRONICS FUND RAISER MONTH!    )

        ( Do your part to keep this marvelous  )

        ( tool sharp and available to all our  )

        ( brothers in the OBAM aviation        )

        ( community.                           )

         ---------------------------------------

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messydeer

Joined: 13 Feb 2006
Posts: 214
Location: Bellingham, WA

Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 9:20 am Post subject: Re: Solid Wire for Ground

Thanks, guys 



Sounds like I'll get some stranded wire for this. My panel ground is located on the under side of the permanantly mounted glare shield. It's a few inches away from the main buss block, whose piano hinge sections can be seen in the pic.



Regarding the panel ground buss, I have used a section of the B&C forest of tabs. It would be convenient to rivet the brass block to the glare shield and use one of the tabs to connect to the firewall. Would using a faston for 10awg wire here be okay, or would it be better to solder it, or both? I'd rather not  have an ugly bolt head on top of the glare shield. 



If I solder without the female faston, would I just drill a hole in one of the tabs big enough for the bare wire to go through and solder it like that? 



If soldering isn't as good as a ring to bolt connection, I'd prolly make a little standoff bracket for the panel ground.

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_________________
Dan

nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:38 am Post subject: Solid Wire for Ground

At 11:20 AM 11/15/2009, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  



Thanks, guys 



Sounds like I'll get some stranded wire for this. My panel ground is 

located on the under side of the permanantly mounted glare shield. 

It's a few inches away from the main buss block, whose piano hinge 

sections can be seen in the pic.



Regarding the panel ground buss, I have used a section of the B&C 

forest of tabs. It would be convenient to rivet the brass block to 

the glare shield and use one of the tabs to connect to the firewall. 

Would using a faston for 10awg wire here be okay, or would it be 

better to solder it, or both? I'd rather not  have an ugly bolt head 

on top of the glare shield.



If I solder without the female faston, would I just drill a hole in 

one of the tabs big enough for the bare wire to go through and 

solder it like that?



If soldering isn't as good as a ring to bolt connection, I'd prolly 

make a little standoff bracket for the panel ground.


	


     The common point ground for stuff mounted on the

     instrument panel generally needs a LOT of places

     to attach ground wires. Further, these are seldom

     larger wires than 20AWG. This is why the D-Sub

     ground connector was proposed.



http://aeroelectric.com/Pictures/Grounding/AVG_RA.jpg

http://aeroelectric.com/Pictures/Grounding/Avionics_Bus_3.jpg



     This technique is much more compact than the

     forest-of-tabs product . . . and is best located

     on the panel - centrally located to the majority

     of devices requiring ground attachments.



     You can fabricate your own ground connector

     using techniques illustrated here



http://aeroelectric.com/Pictures/Grounding/Minibus1.jpg

http://aeroelectric.com/Pictures/Grounding/Minibus2.jpg



     This example was produced to offer a means by

     which lots of instrument lights could be connected

     to a single dimmer. Obviously, if used only as

     a single point ground, you don't need two-circuits

     on the connector.  Solder TWO 12AWG grounds to the

     row of pins and terminate each 12AWG on it's own

     tab at the forest-of-tabs block on the firewall.



     Bob  . . .

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messydeer

Joined: 13 Feb 2006
Posts: 214
Location: Bellingham, WA

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 10:33 am Post subject: Re: Solid Wire for Ground

Thanks, Bob 



I will only have 8 or 10 wires to ground in the panel. The section of tab forest for the panel ground has 20 tabs. I may need to get D-Sub tools, supplies, and skills for installing my not-yet-bought radio, but that's down the road a bit. Even if I had the stuff for it, it would only save me a little space, which surprisingly isn't much of an issue in this particular case.



My ground blocks consist of one 48 tab ground block from B&C cut into three sections. 12 tabs are on the forward side of the firewall, 16 tabs on the rear side with a bolt and rivet connecting the two blocks. That leaves a 20 tab section available for the panel ground buss. There's actually no individual grounds going to the rear side of the firewall, just the single wire from the panel ground block. I can't think of anything in the future that I would add that I couldn't ground to the glare shield mounted panel ground buss. So could I eliminate the rear firewall block completely, and just connect the panel ground block wire to the big bolt through the firewall? 



Since I have 10awg to the main buss, I understand I need a 10awg ground. I would like to know how soldering this ground wire to a drilled out faston tab of the panel ground forest might work, or if it's better to use a #10 bolt and ring.

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_________________
Dan

nuckolls.bob(at)aeroelect
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:17 am Post subject: Solid Wire for Ground

 	  Quote: 	
		  

Since I have 10awg to the main buss, I understand I need a 10awg 

ground. I would like to know how soldering this ground wire to a 

drilled out faston tab of the panel ground forest might work, or if 

it's better to use a #10 bolt and ring.


	


    Ring terminal and bolt.

        Bob . . .



         ---------------------------------------

        ( It's MATRONICS FUND RAISER MONTH!    )

        ( Do your part to keep this marvelous  )

        ( tool sharp and available to all our  )

        ( brothers in the OBAM aviation        )

        ( community.                           )

         ---------------------------------------

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Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

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