Explore

Wiring Harness Inspection

Ryan Shurtleff

Photos

⁠

Inspection Report

Overview

This wiring harness is located inside of my 5” FPV quad. This was put together by myself, no preexisting components were soldered together. The only exception would be the connectors, those came premade from the factory. The wiring harness, while small, connects a lot of different components together. The drone can accelerate and change directions at extreme speeds, and so having a well designed wiring harness and secure connections are very important.

Wiring & Connections

The connections play a big role in making sure that the wires stay securely attached to each component. Most of the connections are directly soldered, however some have a plastic connector between components. The solder connections look to be free of cold joints, along with no sign of cracking. The wires are free of fraying or cracked insulation.

Spacing & Supports

The quad uses metal standoffs to maintain separation between the wires and the structure as required in Section 8 11-96b. Zip ties are used to secure an antenna as well as bundle a group of wires together.

Faults

Painters tape is used to secure the live end of a wire to prevent short-circuiting. A better way to secure it would be to put an end cap on it or wrap it in electrical tape. Some wires, specifically the lone red, brown, and yellow wires in the middle picture, have melted insulation, potentially compromising the ability of the wire to carry current effectively. However, those wires are connected to a servo release mechanism, which if it failed would not affect flight controls at all.

Recommendations:

I would recommend 3 fixes before the harness is acceptable for use.

Replace the burned wires with new ones.

I would shorten the wires that are strung outside of the airframe so that they exposed for the least amount of distance as possible so as to minimize the risk of damage.

The painters tape should be replaced by electrical tape as soon as possible to reduce the risk of a short circuit or a fire.

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.