Breakers and Switches

pequeajim · Post by **pequeajim** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 3:21 pm

I am getting ready to wire up my panel Some of the people that I talk to are of the opinion that while everything has some kind of breaker on it, anything that is switched on and off could use a breaker-switch and save the breakers only for the stuff that is not switched on or off.

Here is my electrical requirements:

Breakers
MFD1 (3)
MFD2 (3)
Radio (5)
Txp (3)
Flaps/Trim (5)
Fuel Pump (5)
Intercom (2)

Switches

Master (Alt/Battery - Dual)
MFD1
MFD2
Avionics
Nav Lights
Strobes
Landing
Panel lights

How would you all do this?

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 5:54 am

Well, Jim... seeing as though you asked and nobody else has answered you in 24 hours, here is my take.

This is what I plan on doing. I am not saying it is the "right way", but I don't think you can really go "wrong" so long as it all doesn't go up in flames when you turn it on.

I am going to supply my loads from fuses and turn them on and off via their own, built in switches. All of the radios have on-off switches on theor faces and things like lights and boost pump will have tiggle switches on the panel.

Have you visited www.aeroelectric.com yet?

CJ

pequeajim · Post by **pequeajim** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:55 am

Thanks for the input CJ. Sounds like at a minimum then I would use breaker switches.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 9:05 am

I went with the EXPBUS 2V...makes it really simple!

smithhb · Post by **smithhb** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 10:43 am

Another point of difference here. While I like the efficiencies of the breaker/switch combos (aka Honeywell) however, their cost is quite high and offer no more reliability over standard tiggle switches and separate fuse blocks.

Bret Smith
RV-9A (91314)
Mineral Bluff, GA
www.FlightInnovations.com

From: RB Lists - Electrical Systems [mailto:support@rivetbangers.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 7:55 AM
To: electrical@rivetbangers.com
Subject: Breakers and Switches

Thanks for the input CJ. Sounds like at a minimum then I would use breaker switches.

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svanarts · Post by **svanarts** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:06 pm

I went with Aeroelectric's designs on my RV-4. So, standard automotive fuses connected to toggle switches. I also did not go with an Avionics master. On the RV-7 I'm building, I'm going with an EXP Bus like Chad. I tried to build the electrical system in the rv-4 so that it was easy to maintain, but the fact is, it has needed no maintenance. I'm hoping I'll find the same thing with the EXP Bus. All this rambling to say, I agree with CJ, there is no wrong way to design your electrical system so long as your circuit breakers protect your wires.

Bob Barrett · Post by **Bob Barrett** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 7:58 pm

I installed breaker switches in my panel and I like them. Granted the radios and some other items will have on/off switches but this works for me. I have a bus bar for ten swithces and have used nine of them. I have a radio master, an avionics master, electrical, which includes flaps, Grand Rapids, intercom; nav lights, strobes, and landing lights each have their own breaker switch. My airplane is not flying yet but testing and using some of it seems functional for me.

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