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Wiring power to a Dynon heated Pitot tube?

claycookiemonster

Well Known Member
My Dynon heated pitot tube has wires already emerging from its power supply which appear to be 18awg. The wiring guidance from Dynon suggests that for a wire run length of between 17 and 24 feet (which must include the 3 1/2 ft leads already coming from the power supply) I should use 12 awg wire.

Odd, but I can go there. The faston connectors already installed by Dynon on these power leads are a soft Rose color. Red, I guess? I'm going to try to connect my 12 awg wires to these. My question is, which faston connectors will crimp onto 12 gauge wire and still mate with connectors crimped onto 18 gauge wire?

I've been searching, assuming that the central tab and receiver may be the same regardless of wire gauge. During that search, it seems that receivers are more available than tabs? If I were King for a day, they'd come in matched pairs, but maybe electrical connectors aren't binary anymore either?
 
Stein

I'm certain the connectors from Dynon are male, in which case Stein sells a faston connector with a 1/4" tab that suits 10-12G wire. https://www.steinair.com/product/ye...-series-fast-on-qd-receptacle-crimp-terminal/

Alternatively you can cut off the pre-installed terminals and go with any terminal connection of your choice. There are a myriad of options available, it's a matter of matching the connector type and wire gauge on both sides. I ended up using a Molex connector mainly as that was easy to secure in an Adel clamp.
 
I have no doubt there are work arounds here, but it keeps coming back to the odd, but official guidance to put a larger wire into connection with a smaller wire. If I try to put 12awg connectors on both wires, the 18 awg wires may not be crimped enough. If I try to put 18 awg connectors on both wires, the 12 awg wires will not fit.

The fundamental question is this: will an appropriately sized connector for 18 awg mate correctly with the appropriately sized connector for 12 awg wire?

Can I plug a yellow connector into a red connector? If I can, then no problem. If I can't, then this is crazy.
 
How about putting both wires into the same connector?
Just leave slack in case the probe needs to be replaced in the future.
 

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I have no doubt there are work arounds here, but it keeps coming back to the odd, but official guidance to put a larger wire into connection with a smaller wire. If I try to put 12awg connectors on both wires, the 18 awg wires may not be crimped enough. If I try to put 18 awg connectors on both wires, the 12 awg wires will not fit.

The fundamental question is this: will an appropriately sized connector for 18 awg mate correctly with the appropriately sized connector for 12 awg wire?

Can I plug a yellow connector into a red connector? If I can, then no problem. If I can't, then this is crazy.

As long as the Fastron tab and receptacle are the same size (typically 0.25"), the crimp barrel for the wire gauge range (red, blue, yellow) should make no difference if you use the same vendor brand for both. I have had had some different makes that would not fit together because of the plastic insulation shape. The 0.25" Fastron can handle the current

https://www.mouser.com/pdfdocs/TECo...-FASTON connectors offer the advantage of the

John Salak
RV-12 N896HS
 
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