I've had a few days off work with the flu but this has let me crack on with some of the electrics.
It's nice to work inside in the warm for a change!
I began by wiring up the warning LEDs on the panel. Again these needed to be soldered - just when you thought it was safe to put away the soldering iron...
As you'll see I didnt make the neatest of jobs of this and even screwed up big time when the soldering iron lent on the ASI for a brief moment and melted it a bit! What a clutz! It didn't make a hole so hopefully it will be okay.
After that I switched over to the static and pitot lines. This ended up looking like spaghetti junction when finished. I've put some quick release fittings on the end of each of the main input lines so it is easy to remove the panel for maintenance at any time.
There is a mismatch between the Dynon and other gauges with regards to the size of tube used. 6mm (or 1/4 inch) on the Dynon and 5mm on everything else. I asked Harry Mendelssohn (the people I bought the Dynon, Transponder and Radio from) if they could chuck in a few extra 5 to 6 mm adapters which they did for free. I went for 6mm Tygon tubing with just the smallest amount of 5mm hose off the instruments themselves.
Regarding the battery cables - the original plan was to get them all sized up then take them to a local garage and get the crimps done - but I found a quality tool online for such a good price I decided to buy that instead. It is a beast with an 8 ton closing pressure and a big range of dies.
Back onto the panel, time to tackle the EFIS, and EMS wiring harnesses.
To start with I was a bit overwhelmed by all the complexity but as it turns out things are pretty straight forward and a good number of the wires are not used anyway.
First thing to do was check all the harnesses for continuity. My Multimeter has a tone function that makes this job easier as you don't have to look at the screen. As it turns out all the harnesses were perfect.
Second thing to do was establish which wires were not needed and trim them down. 11 were not needed on the 37 pin EMS harness and 6 on the EFIS harness. I've left enough length on them should I ever need to use them. I can put a butt splice on and extend the wire easily. The Dynon has a lot of extra functionality that a VFR type installation doesn't use.
After that I made up some labels and used clear heat shrink to set them in place.
The more work I do on all of this inside the less I have to do in the garage.
All that's left to do with the top part of the panel now is 'plug and play'. The EMS wires to all the sensors are the biggest thing left to do.
Next job will be moving onto the lower panel and most likely wiring up the switches, starter and making up D-sub plugs for the fuel gauges.
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| LED warning lights wired up with solder. |
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| Other LED and the ASI with it's melted case! |
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| Pitot and static lines |
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| Line to Transponder will be connected later |
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| Beasty hydraulic Battery terminal crimper |
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| First crimp done |
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| Testing the wires for continuity and correct pin placement |
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| Adding labels with clear heat shrink. |
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| EFIS harness with unused wires cut and bundled under heat shrink |
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| EMS 37 pin harness - prior to labeling |
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| Unused wires in bundle with heat shrink and cable tie |
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| All done - what a mess! |
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