FAA wire incidents report: October and November 2008

January 1, 2009 Lectromec Team

The following are the wire incidents reported in the FAA’s October 2008 Advisory Circular 43-16A – Alert Number 363 and November 2008 Advisory Circular 43-16A – Alert Number and 364. Incident #1 DASSAULT Dassault: 900B; Failed Circuit Breaker; ATA 2400 A repair station report states: While troubleshooting AC electrical outlets for being inoperative,(we) removed a […] Read more

FAA wire incidents report: September 2008

November 7, 2008 Lectromec Team

The following are the wire incidents reported in the FAA Wire Incidents Report September 2008 Advisory Circular 43-16A – Alert Number 362. Incident #1 FAA Control Number: MWE2008F00032 Aircraft Make: DOUG Aircraft Model: DC981 Part Name: Wire Part Condition: Broken Difficultly Date: 8/19/2008 Part Location: Emergency Light When circuits are no longer needed, cap and […] Read more

Aircraft wire selection, harness protection devices, and aircraft wire systems topic Q&A

November 7, 2008 Lectromec Team

Answering Reader Mail Third Quarter 2008 November 7, 2008 From time to time, I get some basic questions about aircraft wire systems. To accommodate this, I have answered some of these questions and have posted the responses below. What are some of the steps that exist which people should take when selecting wire? First and […] Read more

FAA wire incidents report: July 2008

August 7, 2008 Lectromec Team

The following are the wire incidents reported in the FAA Wire Incidents Report July 2008 Advisory Circular 43-16A. Read more

Arc damage modeling tool and damage at a distance

July 4, 2008 Lectromec Team

The amount of damage that can be caused by electrical arcing events continues to be an important question for both new and legacy aircraft. Many factors can affect the damage done by arcing events. For example, events occurring a short distance from a power bus can have much higher currents and power than those a long distance […] Read more

Aircraft wire failure and wire component lifecycle

June 20, 2008 Lectromec Team

In the life cycle of components, including aircraft wiring and connectors that make up the interconnection harnesses, there are three phases of the component lifecycle that can be distinguished. They are a key part of understanding wire failure and make up the “bathtub curve” and they are: The observed failure rate (Blue) is a composite […] Read more

Use of aircraft “shelf wire” and aircraft wire life projection

May 26, 2008 Lectromec Team

Suppose that your customer wants to know if the wiring in the cables, harnesses, or devices that your company produced is good. What if they have questions about aircraft wire life projection. Perhaps the cable that you used was a MIL-spec wire, but had been on the shelf or in the manufacturing plant for a number […] Read more

Physical and functional EWIS issues included in Rule 25.1709

January 1, 2008 Lectromec Team

The recent set of FAA rules deal with physical and functional EWIS issues. The rules were released for the Enhanced Airworthiness Program for Airplane Systems/Fuel Tank Safety (EAPAS/FTS) places new requirements on system safety and certification of aircraft Electrical Wiring Interconnection Systems (EWIS). These new rules were effective as of December 2007. They are the culmination […] Read more

Aircraft databases that impact aircraft engineers

November 1, 2007 Lectromec Team

There are a number of aircraft databases that exist on the web that can be used to survey aircraft incidents and service problems. One of these databases may have the answer to an important question from an aircraft engineer. This Lectrogram shall provide a brief summary of several of the more robust databases relevant to aircraft […] Read more

Damage at a distance on aircraft wire systems

August 1, 2007 Lectromec Team

What is the effective distance in wire systems that electrical arcing can cause? Both lab tests and in-service incidents have shown that arcing is hot enough to cause significant damage when in direct contact with an object, but there is far less information on the damage that can be caused at a distance. Read more

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