Rotax 582 engine electrical connection ideas?

[beeryboats]

I have the remaned engine in the mount and I'm starting to hook things back up, but one thing has me looking for reinforcement of my idea. The builder used plain old spade connectors wrapped in electrical tape, then he duct taped the whole mess together. Not pretty. As this engine will have to come back out every few hundred hours, I was going to use knife connectors or as they are sometimes called, hand shake connectors. Then cover the connection with thin clear plastic tube with a tye-wrap in the center of the hand shake. I've seen this done on Beechcraft products when I worked at a dealership. Then I had the idea to use shrink tube instead as I feel it would be more secure. Which way would you do it?

[Av8r_Sed]

I'm becoming a fan of the weather pack style connectors. They seal well, yet are easy to disconnect. Available in a number of different pin counts. You need the right crimper and insertion/extraction tools to work with them.

http://fastertruck.com/images/XM7WC.jpg

[Peteohms]

Jay, Either way is fine.

[beeryboats]

I just got most of the wires hooked up except for the ground from the regulator to the alternator and the airframe ground. I need to make up a new harness. I'm still trying to decide whether to ground to the bottom engine mount bolt where the starter grounds, or somewhere else. I figure if I have a good enough ground to start the engine, it should be good enough for the alternator and regulator as well. I did end up using knife connectors and shrink wrap. I just wish I had put the connectors on the engine harness before I mounted the engine! But it sure made a better connection than the old spade connectors.

If anyone wants to chime in on grounding spots, please do!

[Danzer1]

I'm a fan of as few ground locations as possible - reduces the possibilities of stray noise and potential ground loop interference and further complicates troubleshooting issues. IMHO

Greg

[Dusty]

Our club 582 rans s6 has a trailer plug for the wiring(the7pin strip type) not the prettiest but funtional for the 300hr engine rebuild

[HighWing]

I have to agree with Danzer. I ran one 6 gauge wire from the battery ground to the tab in the engine - mine is a 912. All other engine side grounds are to that tab as well. One the cockpit side of the firewall, all grounds are to a ground buss close to the battery. As you see from the picture, the battery is mounted passenger side just aft of the firewall. The ground wire from the battery to the buss is covered in black heatshrink for color consistency.

A couple of other things seen in the picture. I identified each wire using a strip of paper with the identifying info printed on it and inserted into a short length of clear heatshrink tubing at the connector. Also seen, but not that obvious - I installed one of the classic cigarette lighter sockets attached to the battery + and - terminals facing down and out of the way behind the instrument panel. I then wired a plug to fit to the end of my battery maintainer so I can plug it in when needed without having to open to the battery.