International Test Standards for Aircraft Wire Tests

January 15, 2019 Michael Traskos

Frequently, Lectromec’s articles have focused on wire and cable testing from US-focused standards such as the SAE and US military (MIL) documents. While these are standards frequently cited, there are other standards organizations that support the aerospace wiring community. Thankfully, many of the standards share a common base and, as is the case with many of the SAE standards, these have been harmonized with European standards. In this article, we will review some of the European wire/cable test standards, variation from similar test methods, and their availability in Lectromec’s lab. Read more

Have we Reached the End of Aging Aircraft Wiring Systems? – Part II

November 5, 2018 Michael Traskos

At the start of the last article, the question was posed, “Is it possible that aircraft wiring reached a point where aging/degradation is a thing of the past?” In that article, four elements were identified that must be satisfied for wires/cables to be considered as age-free. The insulation and conductor aging factors were examined in the last article, and here we consider the remaining two: Design limits and random shocks. Read more

Have we Reached the End of Aging Aircraft Wiring Systems?

October 17, 2018 Michael Traskos

The way some in the aerospace industry maintain their aircraft wiring system can only lead an external observer to reason that aircraft wiring is impervious to damage with a life-span greater than the sun. When considering this thought, the question arose, “It is possible that aircraft wiring reached a point where aging/degradation is a thing of the past?” Read more

Should Polyimide Insulated Wire be Trusted?

September 25, 2018 Michael Traskos

The history of polyimide insulated wire is one that has numerous opinions and a lot of misconceptions. After several incidents involving polyimide wire on aircraft in both military and commercial, many within the aerospace industry refused to put any polyimide insulated wire/cable onto the aircraft they design/maintain. As is often the case with components involved in incidents, a lot of facts and myths get jumbled together. Read more

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

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

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

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

Frequency of Wire System Incidents

November 14, 2017 Michael Traskos

In July 2017, Lectromec published a white paper on electrical wiring system failures on commercial aircraft. This is a brief video of the finding and what can be done to improve EWIS reliability in commercial aircraft. Read more

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