Aircraft Electrical Connectors - Please note, Aircraft Spruce's personnel are not certified aircraft mechanics and can only provide general support and ideas, which should not be relied upon or implemented in lieu of consulting an A&P or other qualified technician.
Aircraft Spruce assumes no responsibility or liability for any issue or problem which may arise from any repair, modification or other work done from this knowledge base. Any product eligibility information provided here is based on general application guides and we recommend always referring to your specific aircraft parts manual, the parts manufacturer or consulting with a qualified mechanic.
Aircraft Electrical Connectors
Speaking of the cabin floor, modern jets have some very sophisticated entertainment systems that can deliver the Internet and a library of stored content to every seat on the plane. Plane configurations constantly change as they add or subtract seats, depending on the needs of the airline.
This means that the under-floor cabling systems need to be quite flexible and easy to reconfigure. Generally, a backbone of Ethernet cables runs down the plane to under floor boxes serving a block of seats. Cables connect each seat to this box.
If you are lucky enough to have an electric seat, the complexity of the harness is even greater. The Ethernet cables and connectors in these applications use a shielded Quadrax configuration of conductors to provide stable Ethernet connections through the entire system.
Civilian aircraft use several different types of connector families. Most of the flight-critical electronics are contained within rugged boxes, connected to each other with cabling. Both the boxes and cables need to be replaceable with minimum effort in the maintenance hangar or on the flight line.
The airline industry and airplane manufacturers embrace the idea of a FRU, field replaceable unit, easily replaceable for maintenance or upgrades. The airframe may last 50 years, but electronics have a much shorter obsolescence cycle. Next time you are in an airplane next to the galley when the ground staff gently restocks the galley with pluggable containers, consider the interconnect environment found in the aircraft and be impressed by the industry's success in managing it.
Today's aircraft have an electronics bay to accommodate the many electronic functions in the aircraft. Racks frequently use blind mated rectangular connectors specified by ARINC standards, allowing boxes to be swapped by opening handles, inserting the box, and locking it in place.
These FRUs can enable quick repair or maintenance on the flight line as well as allowing upgrades in total systems without changing the airplane. Aircraft are heavily used, going through multiple thermal and humidity cycles every day.
They must live in the worst of conditions, temperatures way below anything we see on the surface, and landing in a blowing salty rain next to the ocean in Miami. We expect plans to do this year after year without failure.
In addition, the airlines have no tolerance for unscheduled maintenance. The aircraft environment for EMI is horrible. In addition to all of the radios and radars needed to communicate and navigate the aircraft, uncontrolled sources of radiation from individual phones to lightning strikes and solar flares abound.
The shielding systems for all of the electronic boxes and cables need to protect the electronics under all conditions. I bought this connector because it is advertised how well it fits and works to be used on a connection that needs to be taken apart often.
Well, a $0.50 connector works better. This thing is not worth a cent. Overpriced, bulky and requires 2-3 attempts to get it apart and I can see that the little clicky thing inside will break after a short time.
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