c/avionics-technicians

A quality inspector's comment about my wire bundles changed how I route everything

Last month at a shop in Phoenix, an inspector pointed out my bundle had too much slack near the connector and said 'think about vibration, not looks'. I started using standoffs to support long runs and check for movement before closing up. Anyone else get stuck on making bundles neat instead of practical?

The old lead's tip about wire dressing saved my tail

My first lead tech, a guy named Hank, told me back in 2004 to always zip-tie bundles in 6 inch segments, even on quick bench repairs. I figured it was just his OCD thing, so I skipped it on a Cessna 172 radio swap and left a bird's nest of slack. Three years later that same panel had an intermittent short that took 2 days to trace because the wires had chafed against a bracket in the bundle. Any of you guys ever ignore veteran advice and pay for it later with a dog of a troubleshooting job?

Paid $400 for a used spectrum analyzer, still not sure if it was smart

I grabbed a beat-up HP spectrum analyzer off a surplus pallet in Wilmington for $400. It fixed a ghost signal issue on a bizjet nav system that had three of us chasing our tails for two days. But the calibration stickers are from 2019 and I've already replaced one internal fan myself. Has anyone else gambled on used test gear that either paid for itself or ate you alive in repair costs?

The $6 dental mirror that saved my butt on a Beechcraft

Was hunting a loose ground wire behind the instrument panel on a King Air last Monday, couldn't see a thing. Wrapped a dental mirror on a bendy fairing rod and spotted the broken solder joint in about 2 minutes. Anyone else keep random cheap tools in their box for panel work that end up being lifesavers?

Unpopular take: I skip the full harness test on small GA planes

Overheard a guy at Oshkosh last week say he bench-tests every single wire run, but on a 2-seater with 40 feet of cable I just check continuity and move on. Am I missing something or is that just overkill for a $10K annual budget?

The $60 snake scope that paid for itself on the first 737 job

I always figured those cheap borescopes were gimmicks, but after hunting a broken pin in a bundle for three hours last Tuesday, I caved and bought one. Found the short in under 20 minutes and it's already saved me the cost in labor. Anyone else use one for tight connector inspections or still trust the mirror trick?

Old timer told me to reflow instead of replace, at first I laughed

Had a Collins radio in a 737 that kept dropping the VOR display, intermittent as hell. My lead said stop swapping the LRU and look at the connector pins on the rack, reflow a couple of them. I thought he was stuck in the 80s, but after 3 new boxes and 2 weeks of the same squawk, I pulled the rack and found a cracked solder joint on pin 22. Reflowed it in 20 minutes, never saw that fault again. Cost me zero dollars versus the 4 grand we spent on replacements. Anyone else had a fix that felt too old school but actually worked better than the textbook answer?

Finally realized why my crimps kept failing after 4 months on the bench

I mean, I always thought the ratchet noise meant the connector was seated right, but last week I had a flight line guy show me how he holds the tool at a slight angle and checks the pin depth after every pull. Turned out I was stripping way too much insulation and the clamp was grabbing the wire jacket instead of the conductor. Has anyone else had a mentor catch a basic habit that was messing up their work for months?

Portable vs bench testers, did a field call in Bakersfield flip your preference?

Last month I drove 2 hours to a regional jet that was throwing a bad VHF comm fault. I had my portable ramp tester with me and got a false pass, twice. Had to call a buddy who brought the bench unit out and we found a cracked coax fitting that only showed under vibration. Now I second guess every portable unit for anything beyond a basic continuity check. I get the convenience, but I've seen too many guys trust a handheld readout on a bird that's been baking in the sun all day. On the flip side, dragging a bench cart up a boarding stair is a nightmare and some hangars won't even clear the space. So what's the call for you all, portable for speed or bench for confidence? Has anyone else had a phantom fault that only the big unit caught, or the opposite where a portable caught something the bench missed?

Just switched from wire strippers to a thermal stripper for Tefzel wire

Been doing avionics for about 12 years now. Always used standard wire strippers on Tefzel wire like everyone else. Last month I nicked a wire on a Garmin harness for a Cessna 172 in Kansas City. Had to redo the whole bundle. Buddy at the hangar handed me a Hakko thermal stripper. Took me a day to get used to it but no more nicks. Anyone else made the switch and regretted not doing it sooner?

Rant: That one Tuesday where I rewired the same DME three times because nobody labeled their pins

I swear, some of the guys on my team act like labeling harnesses is optional. Was on a Gulfstream GIV out at KSDL in Scottsdale. Got handed a DME swap that was supposed to take 45 minutes. First time, I wire it per the diagram and the unit throws a fault. Pull it all back out, check continuity, everything looks fine. Second go, I trace the pins manually and find out the previous guy swapped a ground and a signal pin on the connector. Third time was just me verifying against a known good aircraft. Took 5 hours total. Has anyone else dealt with phantom wiring changes from previous techs that don't show up on any log?

Swapped out a 30-year-old coax connector on a King radio last week

Figured I'd save the shop $200 by replacing just the connector instead of the whole tray cable assembly, but now the SWR is all over the place and the pilot is complaining about static. Has anyone else had luck refurbishing old coax runs or is it just faster to pull new cable?

That senior tech who told me to stop using dielectric grease on every connector I touch

After he pulled me aside in the hangar at DFW and showed me how it was actually trapping moisture on a Collins radio rack, I switched to just using it on the threads and haven't had a corrosion callback since - anyone else get humbled by a simple tip from the old guard?

Caught a bad crimp on a 737 nav antenna in Tucson last month, saved a 4 hour delay

I was doing a routine pitot static check on a 737-800 at Tucson International, and I noticed the crimp on one of the antenna coax cables looked a little off. Turned out the die on the crimper was slightly worn, so the connection wasn't fully seated. If I'd buttoned it up and rolled it out, that nav would've probably failed the first time they hit a storm. Has anyone else run into weird crimp failures with older tools?

I finally called out a guy for using a multimeter on live circuits without looking at the damn leads

Remember when we used to lug around a whole tool bag just for wire pinouts?

I was digging through my old toolbox today and found my 2005 vintage Fluke meter with the paper cheat sheet taped to the back. Back then, tracing a faulty coax line on a King Air meant flipping through three different binders for the pinout diagram. Now I just pull up the service manual on my tablet and have it done in 10 minutes flat. The switch from paper to digital really kicked in around 2010 when the company finally issued iPads for the hangar. It's convenient but I kind of miss having a dog-eared page to flip to, you know? Anyone else hang onto their old binders for nostalgia?

Picked a used Fluke over a new Klein for my tool bag

Had about $300 to spend and needed a decent multimeter for bench work. Went with a beat up Fluke 87V from a pawn shop near Phoenix instead of a brand new Klein MM700. Thing has been rock solid so far and the accuracy is way better than I expected. Has anyone else had luck buying used test gear from pawn shops?

Found out my tool pouch weighs 14 pounds fully loaded...

Weighed my everyday avionics pouch after a late shift last night and was shocked it's as heavy as a small bowling ball. Anyone else ever actually weigh their go-bag and reconsider what they carry?

Had to choose between a used Fluke 787 and a new Klein meter for the truck

Picked the Fluke for $300 off a retiring tech and it's been solid for two months now. The Klein was half the price new but I figured the clamp meter would last longer. Any of you guys go used on older Fluke gear over newer budget stuff with good results?

Why does nobody talk about static discharge on weather radars?

I was helping a buddy bench test a Collins WXR-2100 last Wednesday and noticed he skipped putting a ground strap on the antenna before powering up. Said he'd done it that way for years and never had a problem. But I've seen two units get cooked from ESD because the waveguide seal wasn't making proper contact. It only takes a 20 second walk across a carpeted hangar floor to build up enough charge to fry the receiver front end. Has anyone else had to replace a radar board just because someone forgot to ground the dish?

Finally switched from a Fluke 87 to a Brymen 869 and wow what a difference

I used the Fluke 87 for around 8 years on the bench and in the field. Last month I picked up a Brymen 869 after a buddy kept telling me to try it. The thing I noticed right away was the display on the Brymen is way easier to read in direct sunlight on the tarmac. Plus the peak hold actually catches those weird voltage spikes I was missing on the 87. Has anyone else made this swap or tried something different from the standard Fluke stuff?

Warning: watched a buddy skip bonding checks on a King Air yesterday

I was helping out at a small hangar in Wichita and noticed a guy I know just slapped a new antenna on without testing the bond. He said it's fine as long as the screws are tight, but I've seen that cause weird static on comms before. Has anyone else run into problems from skipping a bond check on a metal fuselage?

Walked into a maintenance hangar in Phoenix yesterday and spotted 3 planes with the same cracked connector housing on the JT8D engine harness

If you're working 737 classics with the old 8D connectors, double check the strain relief boots because that flight line had 3 birds sitting with arcing damage and I almost missed it on the first walkaround.

That cheap crimp tool from Amazon cost me a $600 fix after 2 weeks

I bought a $25 no-name crimper for D-sub pins and it mangled the contacts, which came loose on a Cessna 310 nav radio. Anyone else stick to the real AMP or Daniels tools even for small jobs?

That Tuesday in Newark where everything went sideways

Last summer I had a shift at Newark Liberty where three planes came in back to back with busted weather radars. First one was a 737 with a bad waveguide, second one was an Embraer with a corroded connector on the antenna, and the third one was a Gulfstream where someone had left a screw loose inside the radome. I spent eight hours straight on the tarmac and didn't even get lunch. Has anyone else had a day where the whole fleet seemed to fall apart at once?