Found a dead short in a frayed wire bundle on a Cessna 172 last Tuesday

I was tracing an intermittent radio issue that had been bugging me for days. Turns out a chafed wire in the wing root was grounding out against a metal bracket every time the plane hit turbulence. I used a simple continuity test with a multimeter and some gentle wire wiggling to find it. Has anyone else dealt with hidden wire damage that only shows up under vibration?

3 comments

3 Comments

walker.julia8d ago

Did you find any other spots that were starting to chafe too?

gavin_kim8d ago

Did you check the inside of your elbows too? That spot surprised me on a long ride last week. I only noticed after I took my jacket off and saw the red marks. Figured I'd ask because it's easy to miss until it's too late.

patricia328d ago

Honestly I think people get a little too worked up about a bit of chafing. Yeah it stings for a day or two but unless you've got actual blisters forming it's really not worth worrying about. I've had worse red marks from just wearing the wrong jeans sitting at my desk. Just slap some lotion on it and move on with your life.