Low RFI LED Nav/Strobe wingtip lights for C182-S

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robin ardoin

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It looks like my KAP 140 took a dump and I will be replacing it with a GFC500. The avionic tech said I would likely need LED strobes or remove strobes to avoid interference with the magnetometer that is mounted in the wingtip. I told him removal is not an option. I've looked at WAT's site and see many types but not a breakdown for a certain model. Anyone with experience in changing out their Nav/Strobes for LEDs in a restart 182 that would care to share any information is greatly appreciated.
 
What's your serial #? The early SN's (18280001-18280944) have lighting very similar to the older ones, and you'd likely be best served with the Wilco adaptor plates (https://www.wilcoaircraftparts.com/product-p/whelenorioncessna.htm) and some Whelen Orion 650 lights. If you have the later ones, it gets a little more complicated, just because they are not combined units. You'd replace the strobe with 01-0771994-00 and eliminate the power supply following SEB 33-01, and then the incandescent nav lights (01-0770082-12 for the left and 01-0770082-13 for the right) can be replaced with the LED equivalents of 01-0771379-22 for the left and 01-0771379-23 for the right.
 
@Ryan Klems Thank you. I looked at WAT’s site but was confused. Once you directed me to the Wilco adapter needed, it made sense.
 
James Gallagher is a whelen dealer, and is very knowledgeable about what goes where. He helped me out with my bonanza when I wasn't sure what to get. He usually has Sun and Fun discounts if you can wait a week.

 
I replaced the factory Cessna strobes on our R182 last year as part of preparations to install Garmin GI_275s with magnetometer. I looked at both Whelen and AeroLED products, ended up getting AEROLEDs. That was mainly because neither LED tip light fits well on the usual Cessna wingtip, requiring what looked to me like a fussy adapter installation to fit. I bought new Stene wingtips that were designed to accomodate the AeroLED lights. I like the Stene fiberglass tips, but they were a chore to match-drill to fit our airplane.

When I started the install job (I'm an A&P/IA) I chatted a while with an engineer at AeroLEDs. What I learned was that AeroLED anti-collision lights simply switch on and off, with what is likely a MOSFET switch. That is there is no inrush or other filtering from a power supply internal to the AeroLED unit. Because of the fast switching, there was actually a higher probability of EMI interfering with the new magnetometer than if I had kept our old AeroFlash strobes. I took the AeroLED engineer's advice and pulled out the original Cessna single-ended wingtip wiring, replaced it with a shielded two-twisted-pair cable. Four wires:
1. Switched wire for nav/position
2. Switched wire for anti-collision lighting
3. Return wire, grounded near the aircraft switch panel
4. Synch wire, so both ACLs flash at the same time.

The 4-shielded wire cable that replaced the two unshielded wires I pulled out added a couple pounds to my empty weight. We have not seen any evidence of interference affecting the magnetometer, even though the installers put the mag out in the wingtip really close to wingtip lights.
 
robin ardoin said:
It looks like my KAP 140 took a dump and I will be replacing it with a GFC500. The avionic tech said I would likely need LED strobes or remove strobes to avoid interference with the magnetometer that is mounted in the wingtip. I told him removal is not an option. I've looked at WAT's site and see many types but not a breakdown for a certain model. Anyone with experience in changing out their Nav/Strobes for LEDs in a restart 182 that would care to share any information is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

The original Cessna lights will work with the new Magnetometer. Though a good excuse to upgrade. James Gallagher hooked me up with complete LED lighting package for my 182. Looks terrific and seriously saves current.

The plane was recently repainted while they were at it, had them modify the fiberglass wingtips to contour to the WAT Orion 650's. $650 for those new covers is just wallet rape. They need to be fitted as well. My local aircraft paint shop built a solution from scratch in the time it would have taken to contour these $650 overpriced solutions.

Fiberglas is about the easiest material to customize.

IMG_3617 (2).jpeg
 
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I went with the Aero-LED wingtip and beacon lighting based on my A/P’s recs. The plane was put in the infirmary on Monday. Hopefully it will be discharged with the ‘mommy makeover’ near the end of the month. It will have a pair of GI-275’s and the GFC-500 in addition to the lights installed. I’ll lose the vacuum system in the process.
 
My all garmin panel with GFC500 and MU11 in wing tip works great since 2018 with cessna strobes and cessna Nav Lights.

Then about 1.5 years ago i did put in Wat LED nav lights in the cessna nav fixtures.
Then one of the strobe power supply's went out and replaced it with a Wat triple flash power supply.
No issues and everything works great.
My MU11 is a shielded custom made harness though.
IMG_3427.JPG

(edited)_(edited)_IMG_3443.png
 
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