> Over the winter months, we intend to make a few mods to the panel of our now
> Tri-gear Europa. Some of these mods will involve moving instruments which will
> in turn require some of the wiring to be extended.
>
> My understanding is that Tefzel covered wire is the favoured cable to use.
> While this can be bought from RS, it only seems to come in reels of 100 metres
> and at about =A370+vat a reel, works out quite expensive if you need several
> sizes.
>
> Does anyone know of a location in the UK where this can be bought by the metre
> (our US friends can buy it by the foot for next to nothing).
Firstly - you should already use mil-spec (Tefzel) cabling - you shouldn't
just extend plastic insulated stuff with Tefzel.
Secondly, Light Aero sell it by the metre (a 1 or more even for the
smallest sizes)
Thirdly - why not buy it from the US. Aircraft Spruce have on-line sales.
Order it, whack in the Credit Card number and it arrives 10 -12 days later.
You _may_ get stuck with the VAT and a PO handling charge (4 or so) but it
is still FAR cheaper than buying it in this country. [Buy 20 feet of 22AWG
and it costs 11 a foot = 36 a metre = 19p a metre. 10% off for 100 feet or
more.
>
> If I need to extend wiring within the panel does anyone have an opinion on
> they best method - at the moment, I can only really think of hook type solder
> joints with heatshrink applied over the joint or, some form of either single
> pole or multi-pole crimp connectors.
My whole panel is lightly crimped (for location) and then soldered (for
mechanical and electrical strength). Other disagree but I don't believe a
crude clamping of thin wires is good mechanically or electrically :-) (We
have had this discussion on here before !) Only important thing is to hold
the connection in such a way that wicking up the cable of the solder is
reduced to a minimum. This can be helped by applying the solder to the
bare-end end of the cable rather than close to the insulation.
So my answer would be to solder on your extensions and then, yes, apply heat
shrink.
> Finally, I think I'm in for a telling off by our airfield manager as our
> aircraft doesn't have a tow bar - How do other Tri gear owners get over this
> problem?
What the H*LL has it to do with him ? Unless it is because he and his staff
find it difficult to move your aircraft around in your crowded hanger !
However for ease of use I am contemplating doing the following (but some
experiments may be necessary :
I plan to weld a 8mm (with generous shanked part) head to head with the 12mm
nosewheel bearing bolt. And put back on, with nosewheel spat off.
Then I was going to weld a piece of 10mm OD (8mm ID) rolled tube (say 100mm)
square on the end of a 15 mm square section tube about 800 mm long.
If the tube is pushed over the end of the bolt with about 40 mm or more
overlap it should be possible to apply some turning moment to the nosewheel
with the square section tube, with the wheel moving. I dunno how strong it
would be, it might need to be used only for direction with the prop used (as
usual) for applying forward and backwards motion. If it worked I would
probably fashion a handle on the end at 90 degrees to the main square
section bar.
If that worked then the 8 mm bolt could be shortened suitably. It couldn't
be too long otherwise you wouldn't get the spat back on. It will need a hole
anyway (11 mm ? But might need to be "persuaded" outwards when being
refitted if the 8 mm bolt was a bit long.
If this didn't work I have another idea to built a scissors type arrangement
which would grab on the bolt head on one side and the M12 nut on the other
side. This needs two holes in the spat.
However these are ideas - I haven't done anything with them yet. Dunno
whether the PFA would care about the extra bolt or the hole in the spat (or
the two extra holes)
I am not much good at metric so I hope I got the measurements right ! (Old
fart = imperial !). If my description leaves you cold - call me direct or
email direct !
Richard
Richard F.W. Holder 01279 842804 (POTS)
Bell House, Bell Lane, 01279 842942 (fax)
Widford, Ware, Herts, 07860 367423 (mobile)
SG12 8SH email : richard.holder@avnet.co.uk
++++++++ Please note new email address ++++++++
Europa Classic Tri-gear : G-OWWW, High Cross
PA-28-181 : Piper Archer : G-JANA, EGSG (Stapleford)
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