Van's Air Force
The definitive Van's Aircraft support community! Buying, building or flying an RV? Join our exclusive family of mentors and enthusiasts!
CPC Connectors On the Firewall, Absolutely NO, or OK With Proper Protection?
- Thread starter mstrauss
- Start date
I would never use plastic connectors at penetrations where fire melting them is a reasonable possibility. There are metal versions of most bulkhead connectors that are much better, but there will be a cost different. As to how much, it's very dependent on the wiring needs.
The P in CPC stands for Plastic... if you're going to use a connector here, I'd rather see something with a metal backshell, such as MIL-DTL-5015 (Cannon plug).
But the simplest and cheapest connector is no connector, just a well-sealed stainless passthrough for a wire bundle. SafeAir used to sell a pretty good one, and now DanH can provide you with a well-tested setup.
But the simplest and cheapest connector is no connector, just a well-sealed stainless passthrough for a wire bundle. SafeAir used to sell a pretty good one, and now DanH can provide you with a well-tested setup.
If you're going to do that, bite the bullet and get cannon plugs....But I really don't see the need. Everything you could possibly want to wire up front will fit through two 1" fire proof pass throughs, including spare wires capped and stowed for possible future use.
I went looking for metal versions of the CPC bulkhead connectors. For the MIL-DTL-5015 (Cannon plug), I got quotes of anywhere from $250 to $1000 per connector!!! 
And even at that, they are still aluminum, so they certainly would last longer than plastic, but not very long if fire impinges on them.
During the course of my project (not an RV), I need to install and remove my firewall several times. So the tubular pass-thru's are pretty inconvenient for me, but I can use those and put CPC connectors short pigtails on the cabin side of the firewall.
And even at that, they are still aluminum, so they certainly would last longer than plastic, but not very long if fire impinges on them.
During the course of my project (not an RV), I need to install and remove my firewall several times. So the tubular pass-thru's are pretty inconvenient for me, but I can use those and put CPC connectors short pigtails on the cabin side of the firewall.
I went looking for metal versions of the CPC bulkhead connectors. For the MIL-DTL-5015 (Cannon plug), I got quotes of anywhere from $250 to $1000 per connector!!!
And even at that, they are still aluminum, so they certainly would last longer than plastic, but not very long if fire impinges on them.
During the course of my project (not an RV), I need to install and remove my firewall several times. So the tubular pass-thru's are pretty inconvenient for me, but I can use those and put CPC connectors short pigtails on the cabin side of the firewall.
Did you look at Deutsch AS (autosport) connectors? They're based on the eurofighter plugs (MIL-C-38999 Series 1.5). They aren't cheap but they also aren't $1000 each!
If you pull the data sheets and search the number of pins you need and the power requirements, there are lots of NOS AN-3102 solder type connectors and the mating AN-3106 plugs on various auction sites and at sometimes much lower prices. Don't be afraid of going with more pins than required, but having the necessary power ratings, if you find ones even less expensive than the specific pin count that you need.
Yeah....I didn't want solder-type.
