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Wing conduit or Not

Jskyking

Well Known Member
I?m getting ready t start putting on the top skins, ribs and rear spar in place.... I haven?t seen where many builders are putting conduit in the -14 wings to assist with running wires thru the wings.

At this point, retrofitting conduit thru the wings would be a little challenging in the first four ribs, so I?m leaning towards not doing it, but would like to hear the pros and cons of running the conduit and if installed , the technique.

The Vans website depicts RV7 techniques, not sure if it?s applicable for the -14.

I hope I don?t restart the ?primer wars?.....
Thanks
 
The other day I had to pull wires thru the wing of a RV-6 for installation of an autopilot servo in a non-builder purchased airplane. Had a conduit for wires which made the job easy. It is always a challenge in a lot of certified airplanes to run wire as I don't know of a single one that has a conduit. Cheap pex tubing works great for this.
 
The other day I had to pull wires thru the wing of a RV-6 for installation of an autopilot servo in a non-builder purchased airplane. Had a conduit for wires which made the job easy. It is always a challenge in a lot of certified airplanes to run wire as I don't know of a single one that has a conduit. Cheap pex tubing works great for this.

I was 100% going to do this until I found out how heavy most of these tubes are. It does add quite a bit. What is the proffered material here?

oh and yes I had to pull some stuff into a Cessna wing and had to get quite creative with a long stick to get the wires in the right places... the again a cessna wing is much longer than the RV7
 
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The light 1/2?ID plastic water pipe from Lowes fits well into the existing rib holes (the holes Van?s tells you to install snap bushings). Simple, light, and big enough to run anything you need. For wiring the Autopilot servo and such I just gap the pipe between those two ribs so the wires can come out. Another piece of pipe than extends to the wingtip for lights and NAV antenna.

I put the conduit in, then just push the wires through from one end.

Carl
 
Sharkbite

I used segments of sharkbite with zip ties next the ribs and it worked out very well.
 
I'm not a fan of wire slapping around un-supported in the conduit. If you are worried about future additions, or possibly having to replace a wire, it might be about the same weight to just add two extra strands to your wire bundle and leave them there.
 
It is so much easier to run the conduit now than to retrofit wiring when you are putting in the avionics.

If you expect the wings might have lights, pitot heat, antennas, or autopilot now or in the future, definitely put in the conduit.

I am nearly finished with an RV-7A. I was thankful to have conduit, and wished I'd made similar accommodations for more wiring past the center and rear spars before I'd assembled the aircraft. It was painful to do in the assembled aircraft.

If I were building again, I'd make a complete diagram of every wire bundle in the aircraft and how it would be routed, and drill appropriately before putting skins on the wings and fuselage. It's hard to visualize from the plans while you are early in the build, but worth looking at somebody else's aircraft for ideas.

David
 
If the question is to run a conduit on the existing holes in the ribs that are meant to accept a snap bushing then my opinion says NO
but if you mean to run a conduit separate from those, which I did, then I highly recommend it. I bought a fifty feet of flexible loom, similar to this and the weight is so little, I suspect less than a pound per side, and make the additional wiring or wiring in the future much easier.

I have installed all of my GPS and VOR antenna in the wing tip and the wires go thru this conduit

https://www.homedepot.com/p/HydroMa...lfZC9jVovAzGb37S5qkaAg3kEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
vans conduit

I used the corrugated conduit from Vans held in place with a few adel clamps. Very light easy to split where you need to exit wires mid wing. I left a nylon string in both to make pulling any future wire easy.
 
Did you use a step drill and drill out holes in the ribs per Vans wiring recommendations or run them thru the lightning holes in the ribs?
Also, how did you secure the conduit in the ribs?
 
Conduit

Absolutely add the conduit. I used 12.7mm 1mm wall nylon tubing from an automotive supplier I worked for when I built my RV, don?t forget to leave a sting in the tube for pulling future wires.
 
Does anyone concern about the wires fitting loosely in this conduit and vibrating without any support?

Per a&p ia, there is no issue with wires loose in a smooth conduit, (pvc) I can’t speak for corrugated because I didn’t ask about that, but I’d assume it’s also ok. Also, secure through the lightening holes with adel clamps(possibly a small piece of angle to get direction right) and proper hardware.
 
No conduit for me

I did not run conduit but did add a few (3) extra 22 awg tefzel. I agree it looks as though you can add more in the future fairly easily. I did use shielded twisted pair for the pitot tube, something the Vans supplied harness does not call for. Conduit or no conduit seem fine.
 
Running Van's 5/8" conduit thru SharkBite PEX hangers

I'm planning to run the 5/8" ID corrugated conduit (DUCT NT5/8-25 in the Van's store) through SharkBite 3/4" suspension clamps as some others have done. The clamps are Model #23072Z10 at Lowes. $6.48 for 10 of them. I'll probably rivet them to the ribs with LP4-3 rivets. 25' of the conduit weighs about 10 oz, so figure 4 oz/10 feet. Ten of the clamps in the plastic bag they come in weigh about 2.9 oz total.

I have been sleeving my wire bundles with Raychem Versaflex-FR chemical resistant, fungus resistant, self extinguishing, solvent resistant sleeving I purchased at Digi-Key. I'd use it inside the conduit as well.

The hole Van's provides for wiring in the RV-14A fuse is about 9.5" forward of the rear spar.

The tape measure doesn't line up well in the fuse picture because it's closer to the camera.

With the conduit, you don't have to run a string now. You can tie some dental floss to a cotton ball and suck it through with a vacuum later. In theory. ;)
 

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