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Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 08:12:05 -0800
From: Brent Regan <Brent@regandesigns.com>
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To: Lancair List <lancair.list@olsusa.com>
Subject: Connectors = Bad
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          <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
          <<  Lancair Builders' Mail List  >>
          <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>
Bill asks:

<<Does anyone recall the info on the tiny connectors used in the rudder 
wiring to disconnect the rudder?>>

With apologies to those who have heard this rant before...there is 
absolutely, positively no good reason to use connectors in the rudder / 
aileron trim wiring. Instead, splice the wires using solder and heat 
shrink. Strip about 8 - 10 mm of insulation off the wires (no nicks!), 
tin them, slip a 15 mm piece of heat shrink over one wire, solder the 
ends together facing each other and side by side, heat, shrink (verb). 
Use a larger piece of heat shrink over all the splices.

The advantages are many. You can do this 5-10 times in the time it takes 
to terminate a connector. It is lighter. It is smaller. It is cheaper. 
It is FAR more reliable.

On my plane, I did this once 7 years ago and have never needed to remove 
it.

If you think you are saving money with some tin plated t**d, you are 
wrong. Exposed to the elements it will corrode and fail, probably during 
decent so you have to hold in a bunch of rudder on approach or cause a 
slip that unports the fuel pickup, killing the engine and causing a 
stall crash 3 feet short of the runway.

The worst offenders are those Faston spades. There are exactly three of 
them on my plane, two on the Hobbs and one on the alternator field. In 
almost 800 flight hours I have had only one electrical problem. Guess 
where (hint: is wasn't the Hobbs). Good thing I had a secondary 
electrical system.

Did I mention I hate connectors. I do you know.

If you have to use a connector then only use properly crimped or 
soldered pins with gold plated contacts. The AMP CPC series (Digikey) is 
a good compromise between cost, weight and quality.

Regards
Brent Regan



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