6.

11 Electrical Cables and Connectors (Level 2)

Intro:
Many of the aircraft cables are nickel plated. Special solder is needed to connect
these cables.

Cable performance, inspection criteria and damage tolerance

Cable must withstand rated current, it must be able to withstand applied voltages and
it must be flexible where necessary. Cable must be protected from atmospheric
moisture, fuels, hydraulic fluids and abrasion caused by vibration.
Temperature
It is undesirable to contribute more than 40 C0 rise by electrical heating. Temperature
ratings for cables used on an aircraft are 135 deg, 150 deg, 210 deg and 260 deg.
We must know how musch cable generates smoke and toxicity. As well as
flammability in case of flame exposed on a cable.
Wet arc tracking
We must also assess cable resistance when subjected to insulation failure and fluid
contamination.
When installing new cable we should check how cable reacts with fluids that are
typically used on an aircraft (such as hydraulic fluids, fuel etc). This will show how
cable can withstand contamination.
CABLE CONSTRUCTION
For aircraft the cable material can be either copper or aluminium. If the conductors
are made from copper, than individual strands of cable are typically plated to protect
the copper from corrosion.
The number of strands that make up the cable and the type of insulation on the cable
typically determine the flexibility of a conductor.
Conductor (Vadītājs kabelī) Var būt vairāki conductor kabelī, kas ir attdalīti
viens no otra.
Conductor commonly consists of several strands (sīkiem vadiņiem) of copper cable.
Sīko vadiņu skaits nosaka cik lielu strāvu ir spējīgs izturēt kabelis, kā arī vadiņu skaits
nosaka kabeļa lokamību. The conductor is plated to protect conductor from corrosion.
Any modification which involves conversion from copper to aluminium should be
classified as major. Aluminium conductor would have to be in higher cross sectional
area than copper conductor. Aluminium wires have higher resistance.
Conductor Plating
Conductor plating improves anti-corrosive properties of the conductor. The plating
determine the temperature rating of a given cable.
 Tin plating (Alvas pārklājuns) – 135 C0
 Silver plating – 200 C0
 Nickel plating – 260 C0
Cable size
Cable for aircraft installation is sized according to American Cable Gauge (AWG).
Only even numbers are used. Small cables have large AWG numbers. Large cables
have smaller numbers down to AWG 0000. We can dertermine cable size by
American Wire Gauge Tool

CABLE CLASSIFICATION
Equipment Cables – miniature cables intended for low currents in Avionic wiring
assemblies. Designed for miniature plugs and sockets. It is extensively used for
internal connection of instruments and electroic devices. Can be single core (single
strand), single core (multi strand) or multi core type.
Airframe Cables – recent years very thin insulation is used such as (PVC). Basically
these cables are used to run through the aircraft airframe.
Interconnect Cables – these are used to interconnect equipment within racks. They
employ thinner insulation than airframe cables. They are not exposed to stressful
exercises. They are more flexible than airframe cables. Because in the avionic
equipment bay can be bundles (looms) of wires.
Fire Resistant Cables – this type of cable is required to retain a defined level of
electrical insulation in the presence of fire for 5 minutes.
Fireproof cables – these cables are designed to withstand fire for 15 minutes.

CABLE TYPES
Copper cable – most the wiring is achieved with MIL-W-5086 or MIL-W-22759
stranded tinned copper cable with PVC, nylon or Teflon insulation.

Shielded cable – anytime a cable carries a current, a magnetic field surrounds the
cable, and this field may interfere with some aircraft instrumentation. By using a
twisted cable, the fields cancel each other out. AC or pulsating DC cables are
shielded. Braid which is surrounded by the cable do this job. Radiated energy is
aborbed by braid and diverted to the aircraft ground.
Data bus cable

Insulation types – insulation material is applied to conductors by one of two methods

extrusion (gumija apkārt vadam) and wrapping (aptīts vadam apkārt piemēram
diegs). For higher temperature applications extrudable materials are not used.
Airframe cables usually have double extrusion, which are not always of the same
material.
Most commonly used materials for wrapping is Kapton. Single or double tapes are
spirally wound over the conductor to a defined overlap to give the required tape
thickness.
PVC insulated cables such as a Minyvin and all PVC cables are now classes as
obsolescent (novecojis).
Examples of aircraft cables
1. Nyvin (naivin)
These cables are used within airframe structure. Colour white. Uniyvin is the
most common form.

2. Tersil
A fire-resistant cable having greater flexibility than Nyvin. Used on landing
gear and other areas where movement of the cable is necessary. Colour orange
 3. Fepsil
A fire-resistant cable. Exterior colour is green.

4. EFGLAS
A high temperature resistant cable used in some engine circuits. Exerior colour
is grey.

Co-axial cables
Type of electrical cable that has an inner conductor surounded by a tubular insulating
layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield.

This cable is used to transmitt radio frequencies (RF). It connects radio

receivers/transmitters with an antenna. Electromagnetic field exists only between
outer and inner conductor. Thus electromagnetic field is not radiated outwards. Co-
axial is not impacted from external electromagnetic fields. The shield is kept at
ground level and a signal carrying voltage is applied to the centre conductor.
A controlled cable characteristic impedance should be matched to ensure max power
transfer and minimum standing wave ratio. Source and load impedances must be
matched.
The inner conductor of the coaxial cable can be stranded or solid. Stranded is more
flexible. Copper plated steel wire is often used as an inner conductor.
The insulator surrounding the inner conductor can be made from foam or solid plastic.
Solid Teflon is used as an insulator. Many conventional coaxial cables use braided
copper wire forming the shield. Sometimes the braid is silver-plated.
The plastic jacket can be made from many materials. A common choice is PVC, but
some applications may require fire-resistant materials.
High Tension Cables
These are used on gas turbine engine ignition systems between the igniter unit and the
igniter plug. These cables are also used to carry a high voltage in any context. Each
lead contains only one wire, as the current does not return through the same lead.
Spark plug wire have an outer insulation several times thicker than the conductor.
Insulator material is usually made from silicone or EPDM rubber. The thick
insulation prevents arcing from the cable to an earthed engine component.

Thermocouple Cable
Thermocouple produces temperature-dependant voltage as a result of the
thermoelectric effect. Thermocouple can measure the wide ranges of temperatures.
Thermocouples are self-powered. The wires that make up the thermocouple must be
insulated from each other everywhere except at the sensing junction.
Ceramic insulation can be used for up to 1000 C 0. There have to be two metals to
form couple. They form junction.
 CURRENT AND VOLTAGE RATING
Cable size
All cable size is according to AWG standard. (American Wire Gauge). Only even
numbers are used. High AWG number indicates small wire diameter, but small AWG
indicates high wire diameter.
The wire must be able to carry the required current without over-heating and burning.
It must carry the required current without producing a voltage drop greater than, that
which is permissible (pieļaujams) for aircraft circuits.
Current-carrying capacity

From these tables we can compute voltage drop for any cable. Example: Calculate
voltage drop in 100 feet (30.5 m) cable of No.18 wire carrying 10 A.

Kā var atrast 1V sprieguma kritumu šajā vadā?

Jādala 100 feet ar 6.44, kas ir vienāds ar 15.33 feet jeb 4.57 m
 CABLE CODING
General
Nowadays most aircraft manufacturers have adopted a method of coding cables and
cable which conforms (atbilst) to the ATA 100 specifications. This method is also
known as series coding. On modern cables, the code is imprinted onto the cables.
This is achieved by a method known as hot stamping.

 First 4 numbers identifies the aircraft system to which the cable is connected.
If there is a permanent connection between cables then cable number does not
change. But in case where swich or relay is placed between cables then cable
number changes.

 Segment letter – A identifies the first segment starting at the signal and/or
power source. The letters I and O are not used. When more than 24 segments
are required double letters are used (AA,BB etc). Segments joined by a
permanent splice have different segment letters assigned to them.

 Cable gauge – all cables are 20 gauge unless otherwise specified. The cable
size number is not normally included for coaxial cables.

 Ground, phase or thermocouple letter – the letter ‘N’ is used as a suffix

(piedēklis) to the cable identification code to identify a segment of a cable or
cable that is part of the ground network. ‘V’ identifies that all segments of the
high voltage side of a single-phase power circuit.
ATA 100 Specification Code

 First position (1) – used where components have identical circuits. Unit
number. Kompennti ir pieslēgti pie vienas un tās pašas ķēdes. Viens un tas
pats kabelis.
 Position (2) – (circuit function letter) - circuit function letter and circuit
letter which indicate circuit function and the associated system. (Kādai
sistēmai ir paredzēts kabelis?)
 Position (3) – cable number allocated to differentiate between cables which do
not have a common terminal in a circuit. Switches, relays are not classified as
common terminals. A different number is given to each cable. Cable number.
(Kabeļa pārrāvumus identificē)
 Position (4) – cable segment letter. Identifies the segment of cable between
two terminals or connectors. Differentiates between segments of the circuit
when the same cable number is used throughout. I and O are not used.
Identificē katru segmentu, kad tiek lietots viens un tas pats kabelis.
 Position (5) – cable size
 Position (6) – suffix data. Used to indicate the type of cable and to identify its
connection function.

Burts norāda kādai sistēmai kabelis ir paredzēts


 CABLE STRIPPING (Kabeļa mizošana – izolācijas noņemšana)
Several types of stripping tools have been designed to strip the insulation layer from
cable prior to terminal crimping. If incorrect stripping tool is used (not according to
AMM) than a reduction in the current carrying capacity or rating of the cable because
strands are lost.
The stripping tool
A test crimp should be carried out first. There are 4 cable strippers available
1. Single band – rotary device which cuts around the cable.
2. Double band – a four-action device, which is a high precision cut and strip
tool.
3. Thermal – removes the insulation by melting
4. Abrasive – grinds off (noslīpē) hard insulation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpR2GCF6TVQ Kā notiek vada izolācijas
noņemšana.
Stripping tools – thermal
Most popular method with equipment cable. It can not be used on PTFE insulators
due to poisonous fumes. It is a 28 V DC tool, capable of stripping up to 4 mm cable.
They are rotated through 180° and the insulation is easily pulled off.

CABLE TERMINATION