I know Dave or Jon wouldn't phrase it this way but I've already received a number of messages from others about these two recent in-flight power failures due to EC2 issues.

 Jon's was due to a loose mounting nut inside the EC2 that shorted the main power input filter to ground and burned open both foils from the 2 power input pins.  How lucky was that.

  Anyway, at the risk of sounding defensive, I thought I'd share my response to one of them that suggested changing the EC2 case to an external mount of some sort.  I'm sure there are scores of messages on the way urging me to place switch guards on the cold start switch  : )

REPLY

Hello ----------
  I'm aware of the failure and have the unit here for repair.

   Like a thousand other critical details in building an aircraft, it is not possible to explicitly spell out all of them.  The precise method and hardware used to accomplish it are not part of the EC2 or the instructions. The first paragraph of the installation guide does say the following:

"Needless to say, the quality of installation is just as important as the quality of the hardware itself.  It is not practical to include a course on proper electrical wiring practices in these installation instructions, but it is imperative that proper wiring techniques be employed during the installation of the EC2."

It was my thought that avoiding the presence of loose metal objects inside an electrical device that your life depends on fell into the category of  "needless to say".

Nevertheless, a cautionary note might well be worth adding.   As also stated in the first paragraph of the instructions,
" I want your project to succeed and your life to be a long and happy one. "

All the best,
Tracy Crook,    RWS