Rear electrical wiring

[FFTravism]

What is the best route for getting electrical wiring from the panel to the rear area? ELT, Static Tubing, Antennas, and AP Servos.

Is running along one side of the fuselage or what about under the floor boards?
Thanks
Travis

[U2fletch]

I originally planned for wires to go above and along one side, but realized that things were going to get tight running down the front corner posts. So the tail stuff got rerouted under the floorboards.

[FFTravism]

I was thinking the floorboards would give easy access down the road.

[Bcone1381]

I also ran all of it under the floor and would do it again that way. I ran the wiring and tubing from the right side of the panel down the right forward door post and then penetrated the floor.

[arborite]

IMG_1023.jpg I milled slots in the lower stringers to facilitate attaching wires running under the floorboards. My ELT wiring is connected to it now but there’s not much else back there for me.

[rv8bldr]

These are from several years ago (my Bearhawk is finished and I'm just waiting for a decent day to do the first flight .... in Ontario, Canada .. in November ... riiiiight...)

I used split corrugated conduit zip tied to the stringers under the floor. I was able to put it in THEN run wires back to where I needed to. And this approach was invaluable just before my final inspection when I found I needed to run an additional wire back aft. I just took out the floors and tucked the new wire in.

My airplane is scratch built so the tabs are likely in a different place than the kits. Also, I added some heavy duty tabs to mount some ring tie downs.


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[FFTravism]

Thanks for the pictures. That is what I was thinking. Not sure what "Conduit" I am going to use but the split loom would work. Good luck finding the weather. Been Either Rain or windy here in Kentucky.
Travis

[Nev]

Looking forward to hearing a progress update in due course !

[noema]

I really liked using Techflex Flexo F6 for my installation. They are split PET sleeves that can be installed around a bundle of wires after installation. Used them to protect the fuel and hydraulic line as well. There are actually 100s of variations, including fire retardant ones.

I routed a Techflex-wrapped bundle of wired along one of the bottom stringers. To attach the bundle to the stringer I simply drilled a tiny hole every so often and used a small zip tie.

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[rkennell]

IMG_5711.jpg IMG_5707.jpg For my wire runs I used a zip tie looped around the wire bundle and through a short piece of plastic tubing then through a hole in the former. This formed a standoff to protect the wire then I used lasing between the standoff to secure the bundle.

[Untainted123]

This is my opinion after rewiring and maintaining wiring in quite a few airplanes at this point:
Find some non-corrugated, non-split, thin wall plastic tubing. Attach the tubing well to where you want to tunnel under/through things. When you run the wires down the tubing, always also pull a length of lacing wire for the next time. Don't ziptie/lace any wire within the tubing, as that basically defeats the purpose. Don't use split tubing because when shoving a new wire down the tube, it wants to sneak out the split somewhere where you can't see. Don't use corrugated tubing because shoving a wire it gets caught on each corrugation.

Have used this strategy many times in RV's where the floorboards are riveted on, but you haven't completed running wire yet. Most of the suggestions I see above are securing the wiring and wrapping it while you can still get to it, but you will never be able to pull a wire back or run a new one without physically getting to the same spot. If you use my suggestion, the wires are always protected inside the tube, and you can pull a wire back or add a new one at any time. Secure with zip tie/lace tape where appropriate before entering/after exiting the tunnel you made with the smooth pipe.

[noema]

these are good considerations. I have considered the flexibility of installing tubes in all the hard to access areas. I didn't do it because there is a bit of weight penalty. Also the bundle won't be as compact. Generally I also found it acceptable to potentially add wires to the outside of the bundle. Ultimately I found I have fairly easy access in the fuselage. In the wings outside the tanks there is a section where short tubing makes most sense. But even there I figured I can reach in faily far and add wires to the outside of an existing bundle. If I ever had to replace an entire bundle worst case I would need to add another service opening.