poloengr
Well-Known Member
I recently purchased a well equipped Seneca II with two GNS430 units that were installed in February 2000 by Southern Avionics in Alabama and certified for IFR use. When I had a local shop upgrade the two 430s to WASS last year, they noted in the logbook that the previous installer (Southern Avionics) did not use backshells on any of the connectors. It is also noted in the logbook that the shop performing the upgrade checked with Garmin and found that installation without backshells is acceptable but not recommended. The shop upgrading my units told me it would be expensive to retrofit the original Garmin backshells onto the two units because they are one piece and all the pins would need to be extracted so the wires could be fed through the one-piece backshells before reinserting the pins into the connectors. The two units work fine and play well with all the other avionics in the plane (NSD360A, G4 Twin, GMX200, ELT, Crossfill, GTX330S, GMA340, GI106A, Altimatic IIIC, etc.) but I would like to get backshells installed on the two 430W's for strain relief if nothing else.
I know the new Garmin backshells are 2-piece and would be much easier to install but I do not know where to buy them reasonably. I have a friend who is a A&P, IA that would install them for me but he does not work for an avionics shop so he does not have a source or suggestion on where to purchase the parts I need. He did suggest that perhaps the Avidyne backshells are less expensive and would also work since the GNS and IFD units use the same trays and connectors. Any suggestions on where I could get 6 backshells I need? Each 430W has 3 connectors that should have backshells. Two of the connectors (25 & 44 pin) use the same backshell and the third connector is a 78 pin connector that requires a larger backshell. I have checked eBay and the forums. It looks like I missed out on an connector kit for an IFD a few months ago that had the three backshells I needed.
For reference, the old Garmin Backshell part numbers for the 1-piece shells I can't use but that should have been installed in 2000 are 330-00220-50 (78 pin), 330-00220-25 (25 pin), 330-00220-25 (44 pin), and the entire connector kit for one GNS430 unit is p/n is 011-00351-00.
Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks everyone.
I know the new Garmin backshells are 2-piece and would be much easier to install but I do not know where to buy them reasonably. I have a friend who is a A&P, IA that would install them for me but he does not work for an avionics shop so he does not have a source or suggestion on where to purchase the parts I need. He did suggest that perhaps the Avidyne backshells are less expensive and would also work since the GNS and IFD units use the same trays and connectors. Any suggestions on where I could get 6 backshells I need? Each 430W has 3 connectors that should have backshells. Two of the connectors (25 & 44 pin) use the same backshell and the third connector is a 78 pin connector that requires a larger backshell. I have checked eBay and the forums. It looks like I missed out on an connector kit for an IFD a few months ago that had the three backshells I needed.
For reference, the old Garmin Backshell part numbers for the 1-piece shells I can't use but that should have been installed in 2000 are 330-00220-50 (78 pin), 330-00220-25 (25 pin), 330-00220-25 (44 pin), and the entire connector kit for one GNS430 unit is p/n is 011-00351-00.
Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks everyone.
