Good discussion on circuit returns,
otherwise known to most of us as "grounding." A very good aid for proper
wiring is Bob Nuckolls' "forest of tabs," available from B&C
Electronics. It's a pair of brass plates, one for each side of the
firewall, with a brass bolt to connect through. Each plate has a number of
male Fast-On tabs soldered to it; the pair I like has 48 tabs on the aft (cabin)
side and 24 on the foreward side. You connect the bolt to the battery
negative with your main bus wire (2/0 or so in size), then make ALL
your return (ground) connections to these plates. With this
single-point ground arrangement you will have much quieter radio and
intercom performance. If you run out of tabs, you can bunch up several
wires in one crimped female connector. So long as this is the first place
the return signal wires come together, all will be well. Having the tabs
on the firewall side also reduces the number of wires that must come through the
firewall.
Bob Nuckolls has also put together a book on
wiring experimental aircraft. Highly recommended and also available from
B&C.
Jim Cameron
Boerne, TX
|