Filtered connectors manufactured by Oxley Developments Company Ltd will soon be flying high on a new commercial aircraft, thanks to an effective partnership with Turbo Power Systems (TPS).

TPS supply the rack-mounted liquid-cooled controller for the aircraft’s jettison fuel pump and required a high performance filtered connector that would not only remove electromagnetic interference from signal and power lines but would also meet the requirements of an extremely high dielectric withstand voltage requirement of 2000 volts AC. Having experienced difficulty with previous filters selected that were unable to pass the EMC testing, TPS approached Oxley with a view to finding a solution to the problems encountered with meeting their specifications.

This precise requirement for the fuel management system led Oxley to develop a high voltage filter specifically for the new aircraft. The filtered connector produced was a custom design that included a high performance ceramic planar capacitor array and custom designed compliant interconnects. In order to ensure that the filters were fully tested, Oxley invested in new equipment for their in-house testing laboratory, which would duplicate the process of TPS and enable Oxley to extend prototype verification testing to in-line production testing.

The combination of Oxley’s expertise in EMC filtering and the ability to design, manufacture and test in-house resulted in an effective, custom built, high voltage filtered connector that went on to successfully pass TPS aircraft acceptance testing.

With hundreds of the new aircraft on pre-order and demand growing, it is expected that the requirement for this specialised, high performance filtered connector will increase considerably, generating substantial business for Oxley and reinforce their position as a world leader with a reputation for quality and reliability.