I then uncoiled
the conversion harnesses. There is a
mess of wires that must be run down through the instrument shelf and to the
center section of the airplane. I
loosened the over rudder wire keeper and started pushing the wires
through. With the help of some long
forceps I was able to capture the taped ends of the wires and pull then down
into the tunnel. I am not sure how I was
able to get the wires through the rat's nest of wires in the tunnel, but I was
able to get them through. By hook and by
crook I was able to get all of the wires into the center section.
I then turned my attention to the dreaded page 42D-20
and the pilot/co-pilot headset harness conversion. The instructions say to attach the existing
RZ194 harness wires to the new RZ943 extension.
Likewise, attach the RZ195 existing harness to the new RZ942 extension
wires. That is all fine and good, but my
existing wiring was labeled Pilot and Co-Pilot . I was a bit unclear as to which of the
existing harnesses was the RZ194 and which was the RZ195. I looked through the old drawings and could
find no reference to the RZ numbers. I
called Van's support and asked if they could identify them for me. I was referred to the new electrical drawings
issued on the website. They helped me
find the answer and pointed out that I should use the new drawings to help find
the information I need. I thanked the
support guy for helping me identify the Pilot harness as RZ194 and the Co-Pilot
as RZ195. I proceeded to attach the appropriate
wires of the existing harnesses to the correct wires of the new extensions. I pulled this newly created harness through
the snap bushings and cushioned clamp to the left side of the instrument shelf
and proceeded to insert the pins into the D-sub connectors. I wire tied the new wires to the appropriate
S-sub wires.
Next I turned my attention to taming the wild array of
wires in the forward tunnel. After
looping and wire tying and re-tying and removing ties as I worked I was able to
make a huge mess into a much tamer and manageable run of wires.
Next I ran the wires ADAHRS wires back to the
tailcone. What a project! I was able to tape the twisted pairs of wires
to the sheathed wires and started to pull them through the wire looms and bulkheads. There is not much room in the snap bushings
and I really had to do some figuring to get them through. At one point I thought I might need to drill
some new hole and insert some additional snap bushings but there was no way to
get a drill into the spaces to do so. I
inserted the 4 sheathed wires to the tailcone in a piece of ¼"
tubing. But cutting the end of the tube
at an angle I was able to get it to go through the snap bushings. I then used my wire spoon and was able to get
the twisted pairs through the bushings.
What a tight fit that was. After
considerable pushing and pulling and pleading I was able to get the wires into
the tailcone.
I inserted the
white/red wire through the bushings using forceps and a lot of persuasion and
got it to the ELT area and crimped on a butt splice.
Next I ran the orange/black headset and the white (should be
yellow/red) Nav power wires for the wing lighting to each side of the
fuselage. I will wait until I roll the
fuselage back upright to so I can remove the cover plates and make the attachments. I also removed the WH-B148 wire from the
power outlet and pulled it out of the tunnel.
I crimped a spade connector to the power outlet wire and attached it to
the outlet. The wiring is now tamed but
it looks like I have been in surgery.
