Aging Aircraft Wire

May 22, 2018 Michael Traskos

Aging aircraft wiring is a problem affecting the entire aviation industry. Lectromec’s evaluation of the 2016 service difficulty reports found that aircraft over 25 years old were more than two times likely to suffer problems with their wiring system. There are tools and analyses to get ahead of these issues. Read more

Insulation Resistance: Measuring Leaky Wires

May 10, 2018 Michael Traskos

Wire insulation integrity is a fundamental part of wire performance. Without it, the safety and reliability of a wire is significantly reduced. Over the years, the industry has developed dozens of insulation integrity assessment methods. Among the range of tests that exist in the world of wiring, one of the tests that is often misunderstood […] Read more

Getting the Right Data

May 2, 2018 Michael Traskos

How important is it to have the right data on your wire and cable products? For those seeking qualification to a product standard, having test data that matches the requirements is important. Without this data, qualification cannot happen. But what about the products that fall outside of industry standards? How many tests are necessary to […] Read more

Latest Developments in Wire and Cable – SAE 8A 8D Spring 2018

April 18, 2018 Michael Traskos

It is not often that you find more than two people in a room with a passion for aerospace wiring systems. One of the exceptions is the bi-yearly gathering of wiring system component and EWIS experts for the SAE 8A/8D committee. Last week, Chicago, Illinois was the host for this event that covered a wide […] Read more

When to Pull the Component – End of EWIS Component Service Life

March 30, 2018 Michael Traskos

What is the end of life for a wire, cable, connector, or any Electrical Wiring Interconnect System (EWIS) component? This is a straightforward question that should have a straightforward answer, but often, this is an unanswered question. Regulatory guidance such as Fuel Tank Ignition Source Prevention Guidelines from the FAA think of wiring as something […] Read more

Shield Grounding and EMI Protection – Part 2

March 20, 2018 Michael Traskos

EMI, the concept of electromagnetic interference, is a relatively simple one to convey: radiated energy from other sources induces a voltage in another circuit. But like many things, the simplicity of its description belies the true complexity of mitigating it. Shielding of signal wires, wire harness shielding, shielding of power wires, induced noise studies are […] Read more

Shield Grounding and EMI Protection

March 5, 2018 Michael Traskos

The push for more electric aircraft is driven by weight savings and the availability of reliable electrical components. This is made possible with greater power generating capacity, however, this comes with an increased challenge of ensuring reliable data transmission. More power flowing through the aircraft means higher levels of electromagnetic interference (EMI). Aerospace environmental test […] Read more

Correcting Bad Wire System Guidance

February 20, 2018 Michael Traskos

Consider a common aircraft wire: how many requirements and standards must be considered during its design and fabrication? A simple back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests at least 30 various requirements and standards. For an aircraft wire harness, that number can easily jump to 50. Without a doubt, between each of these standards and requirements, there can be […] Read more

Circuit Protection Selection Guidance

February 13, 2018 Tristan Epp Schmidt

Circuit protection devices have existed since 1864; one would think that selection of circuit protection would be a straight forward task. However, it is not. NASA developed a seven-step process for circuit protection selection and both EN3179 and AS50881 provide some guidance. In a past article, Lectromec began to consider the differences between two major […] Read more

What is an EWIS Qualified Wire?

February 2, 2018 Michael Traskos

This is a question that Lectromec regularly receives. The reason for this question is that a parts-supplier or system-integrator is looking to find wires in compliance with EWIS requirements. Since there are so many ways to evaluate any component, the important question to consider is if a defined requirements list for aerospace wire exists? Here, […] Read more

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