c/avionics-technicians

Old timer told me to trust my tin whiskers during harness layup

I used to think tin whiskers on crimp terminals were mostly cosmetic until a 20 year tech at Lockheed Martin showed me how a single strand bridging two pins caused an intermittent fault on a C-130 nav system last month. He was right. Has anyone else had a false continuity reading from a whisker you couldn't even see?

Tried fixing a loose connector with a paperclip on a Cessna 172 at KAPA and the owner walked in mid-splice

He just stared at me for 10 seconds, then handed me a proper pin removal tool from his pocket, and now I always keep one in my shirt sleeve.

Shoutout to the old timer who told me to check my power supply before swapping boards

He said "It's always the simple stuff first" and sure enough my Multitech PSU was outputting 11.4 volts instead of 12, which explained the random resets on that King Air Garmin 430 I was troubleshooting last Tuesday, has anyone else ever had a power supply test good on a meter but fail under load?

Talked to a retired Navy radio guy at the hangar last Thursday and it changed how I troubleshoot

I was working on a comm panel that kept giving me a weird static on channel 2. This older guy came by to grab a tool and asked what I was doing. He said I should check the ground strap first before looking at the module itself. I always start with the module because that is where the problem usually is. But he told me in the Navy, they learned that 60 percent of radio issues come from bad grounds, not the actual radios. I tested the ground strap and sure enough, it was corroded at the connection point. Replaced it and the static went away clean. Now I always check grounding first on any radio problem. Has anyone else run into a simple ground fix saving hours of work?

Had an APU go down over Denver last Tuesday and I was dead wrong about the cause

I spent 45 minutes chasing a fuel control unit issue when it turned out to be a chafed wire in the harness behind the firewall, and now I always check the simple stuff first before diving into the expensive components - anyone else had a similar moment where the fix was way easier than you thought?

Why nobody talks about using a heat gun to fix corroded pins

I was working on a King KX 165 nav radio in a Cessna 172 last week, and the pins were so crusty I couldn't get a clean connection. Tried contact cleaner, a tiny brush, nothing worked. On a whim I hit the connector with a small heat gun on low for 20 seconds to dry out the corrosion, and it actually fixed the intermittent signal loss. Has anyone else used heat like this, or am I gonna kill something doing it?

That buzzing sound on the ground power cart isn't always normal

I was doing a 767 battery service yesterday and kept hearing this weird hum from the ground power unit. My lead said that's just how the 28V carts sound when they're under load. Turns out he was wrong, it was a loose bearing in the cooling fan. The cart actually overheated about 20 minutes later and shut down. I only caught it because I walked around the unit instead of just standing in front of the panel. Has anyone else had a ground cart fail mid-test like that?

Had to choose between a used Fluke and a new cheaper meter for my bench job in Atlanta

Chat with a 20-year A&P guy made me rethink my whole avionics toolkit setup

I was swapping out a comm radio in a King Air 350 last Tuesday in Mesa and this old-timer A&P walked by and asked why I had 3 different screwdrivers out. He said 'son, you only need one good 1/4 inch and a lot of patience for the rest.' I laughed it off but then I spent 15 minutes fumbling with a tight panel screw and realized he was probably right. It hit me different because I've been adding random tools to my bag for years without thinking about what I actually use daily. Has anyone else had a senior tech break down their approach and make them feel overcomplicated?

Small win on a Cessna 172 IPC panel swap last Friday

I was out at the regional airport in Bakersfield doing a full IPC panel swap on a 172. Got the old one out and the new one wired up in about 6 hours, which is a personal best for me. Had a moment where the Garmin 430 wouldn't power on and I about lost it. Turned out I just missed a ground pin on the back of the tray. Checked my wiring diagrams again and found it in 10 minutes flat. Felt like a real pro getting that thing booted up and talking to the transponder. Any of you guys have a go-to trick for seating those D-sub connectors on the first try?

Thought I was wasting time learning fiber optic terminations, turns out I was dead wrong

I used to think fiber optic was some overhyped marketing thing for avionics. Then last month a CRJ-200 came through with a bad fiber line between the cockpit display and the LRU, and my old coax crimping tricks did nothing. Spent 3 hours cleaning and re-terminating that single ST connector, and the system came right back up. Anyone else had to eat crow on fiber skills?

Had one of those days where every connector fought back

Last Tuesday I was troubleshooting a Garmin G1000 backup issue on a Cessna 172 at KAPA. Every single D-sub connector I touched had a pin that refused to seat or a backshell that stripped. By 3pm I had fixed the problem (loose ground in the radio stack) but it took me twice as long as normal. Anyone else have weeks where the plane just seems to fight you on every little thing?

Walked into a regional repair shop in Boise last Friday and saw something scary

They had five different connector pins installed with the wrong crimp tool (like, not even close to the spec) and when I asked about it the lead tech just shrugged. Has anyone else run into shops cutting corners on terminal crimps or am I just unlucky?

Warning: Took me 5 hours to find a bad ground on a Garmin GNS 430

Spent a whole afternoon chasing a flickering display issue that ended up being a corroded ground wire hidden behind the tray. Anyone else wasted a shift on something this simple?

I quit using digital multimeters for continuity checks last year

There I was on a Gulfstream G450 at an MRO in Tucson, chasing a intermittent fault in the landing gear indicator circuit. Everyone else grabs a Fluke 87, I grabbed my old analog Simpson 260. That needle swing tells you way more about a bad connection or intermittent break than any beep or number does. I know it sounds backwards, but after 12 years in avionics, I trust that analog sweep more than a digital reading for certain jobs. Anyone else stick with old gear for specific tasks?

Why does nobody talk about hitting 10,000 flight hours in a test cell?

I finally hit 10,000 hours of run time on the test cell at work last week. Most guys in avionics brag about flight hours or bench time, but nobody ever mentions the grind of sitting in a concrete room watching dials for that long. It surprised me because I always thought the milestone would feel like a big accomplishment, but honestly it just felt like a number. The real shocker was realizing how many small fixes I've done over those hours, like replacing a single bad resistor on an old 727 radio that saved the shop $2,000. It matters because test cell time teaches you patience and pattern recognition you don't get on the flight line. Has anyone else tracked something like that and felt it was way different than you expected?

Was dead-set against using a thermal camera on harnesses until I found a cracked pin in an LRU connector at MCO last Friday

Took me maybe 10 minutes to spot what would've been a whole afternoon of chasing a ghost fault, has anyone else had one of those tools they swore off until it saved them?

Had to pick between a factory pinout diagram and a multimeter trace on a 737 APU issue

Chose to trust my Fluke 87 over the manual on a 737-800 APU start fault near DFW last Tuesday, cleared the code with a bad crimp I found myself, but now the lead tech says I wasted 45 minutes and should've just followed the book, which side are you on?

A loose cannon plug on a CRJ-700 ate up 3 full hours before I noticed

Last Tuesday I was chasing a weird intermittant on the #2 VHF comm. It would cut out every time the plane hit a bump on taxi. I spent forever swapping boxes, reseating cards, even tested the antenna coax. Took 3 hours before I realized the cannon plug on the back of the radio tray was only finger tight. Probably a mechanic bumped it during a previous shift. Just the act of spinning it a quarter turn fixed everything. Has anyone else had a simple connector issue waste way too much time like this?

Spent $60 on a used spectrum analyzer and it saved me 4 hours today

Found a beat-up HP 8590L at a pawn shop near the airport for $60. Chased a ghost in a King Air 350 comm antenna line and the analyzer found a bad connector in 10 minutes. Anyone else find killer deals on test gear at weird places?

Last Tuesday was one of those days where everything just clicked

I was chasing a ghost in a Cirrus SR22's autopilot since Monday. The trim would drift right about 2 degrees during cruise and nobody could figure out why. I finally decided to check the pitch trim servo connector for corrosion even though it looked clean. Sure enough, there was a tiny bit of green crust on pin 4 that multimeter readings kept missing. Replaced that one pin and everything went back to perfect. Has anyone else had corrosion hide like that on a connector that looks good from the outside?

Finally figured out why my coax cables kept failing after 4 months on the ramp in Phoenix

Turns out the other techs were using the standard crimp connectors instead of the mil-spec compression ones that handle the heat cycles better. Has anyone else run into this with the cheaper connectors on 737s or is it just our hangar?

Finally gave in and tried a digital level after 15 years of using a bubble level

I was always the guy making fun of guys with digital levels on the line, called them overpriced toys. Last month I dropped my old Empire level off a 6 foot ladder at the hangar and the vial cracked. Borrowed a buddy's digital one and damn if it didn't make leveling the antenna mounts on a 737 way faster, no more squinting. The stupid thing beeps at you when it's dead on and it saved me about 20 minutes on the job. Anybody else cave and make the switch or am I late to the party?

Caught a fellow tech wiring the wrong ground reference on a G1000 yesterday

He had the shield tied to the airframe at both ends instead of just one, which created a loop and messed up the COM radio. Has anyone else seen this mistake causing intermittent squelch issues?

That $80 crimper set I bought on Amazon is a total waste

Tbh I thought I was saving money by skipping the $200 name brand crimper and grabbed a cheap set off Amazon. It worked fine for about 15 connectors before the jaws started slipping and crushed two pins on a harness I was building for a Garmin install. Wasted about 4 hours re-doing that harness and another $30 on replacement connectors. Has anyone else had luck with a mid-range brand that doesn't break the bank?