Click on picture to
view a larger image.

After much consternation and fiddling with the position, I mounted the battery and made real progress starting the electrical system.

      This first picture shows the next two components to go on. The lower brass piece is referred to as a forest of tabs grounding block. On the opposite side of the firewall is a matching block that is attached with a large brass bolt. The pictured side is referred to in my plans as the FWFGB – the FireWall Forward Grounding Block. The one on the other side is the FWAGB.  Almost all the grounds in the airplane will come directly to these blocks, helping to control ground loops (the electrical kind).

      Above the FWFGB is the FWFPB, or the firewall forward Power Buss. This buss is an always powered buss and will mostly supply power to items in front of the firewall.  It will also support the alternate feed to the Endurance Buss.  I’ll write about that when I do the panel.

      The second picture below shows the FW after the three contactors have been mounted. The black contactor is an intermittent type and it will supply power to the starter. The silver contactors are the continuous type. The one next to the starter contactor is the main power contactor.  This will sit between the battery and supply power to the Main Buss and the Avionics Buss via the master switch. The lower contactor sits between the battery and the ground power receptacle. It is activated via a switch and will be wired to not activate if the polarity is reversed or the power exceeds 16v. Since many ground power sources at airports supply 28v this is a must to prevent accidental connection.

      These components all had to be rearranged when I decided not to mount the battery as I first envisioned. The battery posts are now mounted forward. I had many good reasons to mount it with the posts aft, but after much consideration I decided that there was not enough clearance between the posts and the firewall. Changing this meant that the + and – sides of the battery got reversed and I would have to route the wires differently.  It all worked out in the end and I am happy with where the wire runs will go.