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Planning wiring for Cruzer lights
Planning my wiring for AeroLED Sunspot 36 landing and taxi lights, and AeroLED Pulsar NSP Nav/Strobes. Check my math?
Knowns:
Sunspot 36 lights are 3.5A continuous each
Sunspot 36 wigwag line is 0.5A
Pulsar NSP nav lights are 0.8A continuous each
Pulsar NSP strobes are 4.3A intermittent each
LANDNG AND TAXI LIGHTS: I'd rather run one 16-3 line, control both the Landing and Taxi lamps from individual switches via a single three-conductor run, but 16-3 doesn't seem to exist. So,
From panel to left wing root = 15' of 16-2
Wire A, Landing switch, current 3.5A
Wire B, Wigwag switch, current 0.5A
From panel to right wing root = 15' of 16-2
Wire A, Taxi switch, current 3.5A
Wire B, Wigwag switch, current 0.5A
From left wing root to lamp = 20' of 18-3
Wire A, Landing lamp, current 3.5A
Wire B, Wigwag switch, current 0.5A
Wire C, Wigwag sync to other wing
From right wing root to lamp = 20' of 18-3
Wire A, Taxi lamp, current 3.5A
Wire B, Wigwag switch, current 0.5A
Wire C, Wigwag sync to other wing
NAV/STROBE LIGHTS:
From panel to either wing root = 15' of 18-2
Wire A, NAV switch, current 1.6A
Wire B, Strobe switch, current 8.6A intermittent
Left wing: from wing root to lamp = 20' of 18-3
Wire A, Red NAV lamp, current 0.8A
Wire B, Strobe lamp, current 4.3A intermittent
Wire C, Strobe sync to other wing
Right wing: from wing root to lamp = 20' of 18-3
Wire A, Green NAV lamp, current 0.8A
Wire B, Strobe lamp, current 4.3A intermittent
Wire C, Strobe sync to other wing
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by David Gallagher on
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Jason,
My math is showing something just a bit different.
I read your landing/taxi lights as 3.5A continuous for a total of 35 feet from panel to wingtip. In AC41-13B Figure 11-2 Conductor Chart, Continuous flow, assuming a 14V system, it rounds up to a 14 gauge wire.
You should be OK with 18 gauge for the nav and strobe lights.
Dave G.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Fish on
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The tough part there is that, like 16-3, shielded 14-2 also doesn't seem to exist. I can't imagine everyone out there with Sunspots is twisting together their own 14ga pair, so I must be missing something.
The reply from AeroLEDs was "this is all fine." OK, great! But they also said "be sure to ground all the way to the main bus," which I'd mentioned at the very start that I would be doing, so I now wonder how closely they read the rest of the email. ;)
So the manufacturer says 16ga is fine
FAA says 14 is needed, some builders agree
Other builders say they used 18ga
Zenith includes 16ga with the Sunspot lighting kit they sell
Various whiz-bang calculators out there conflict with these statements, and with each other
And the availability of the wire I apparently should use is limited, leading me to think that it's not a popular choice
Just reams of doubt all around. Not complaining, just flummoxed. If there's a Hard Rule Based on Distance, and most panel-to-lamp distances are similar to ours, then there should be tons of adequate wire available in the market. So something just seems off, ya know?
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Permalink Reply by Brian Rodriguez on
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I feel for you on this, Jason. I just drew up my wing schematic as well and was frustrated with the lack of confidence I have in the variance between calculations and recommendations...and it wasn't until I read your post that I realized that AeroLEDs seems to be recommending the use of shielded wire, as in their manual it mentions that it is "optional." Kind of vague and lacking confidence also - if its going to induce noise it really shouldn't be optional. I too, couldn't find shielded 16-3 and starting thinking all this overthinking was overkill, especially based on the average loads (not peak loads). Confusing! These coils of large gauge wire are heavy, so overkill isn't a good thing.
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SteinAir does sell shielded 16-3. It wasn't shown on the site at the time, but they've since fixed it.
https://www.steinair.com/product/shielded-wire-16-ga-3-conductor/
AeroLEDs also sells shielded 18-4 directly, which I found would work well for one of my runs.
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