c/avionics-technicians

Overheard a guy at the parts counter talking about counterfeit connectors

He was saying someone at his shop installed 20 fake D-sub connectors on a King Air last month and they started arcing after 50 flight hours. Has anyone else run into these knockoffs from certain online suppliers?

1 comments

the_thomas•3d ago

Warning: cheap crimper almost cost us a 737 last Wednesday

I was doing a connector repair on a 737NG in Detroit and my $20 crimper from amazon left a loose pin that could've arced out. Any of you guys had a tool fail on you during a rush job?

2 comments

sam_murphy39•7d ago

Blew $400 on a 'plug and play' wiring harness that was anything but

I needed a quick fix for a Cessna 172's nav light circuit last month, so I grabbed this pre-made harness from a online avionics parts seller. Figured it would save me a few hours of crimping and running wires. Got it in the mail, opened the box, and the connectors were all wrong, plus the gauge was two sizes too small for the load. Tried to make it work anyway over a weekend, and ended up with a short that fried a whole junction box. Cost me $200 for the harness and another $200 in extra parts and my time to redo everything from scratch. Has anyone else gotten burned by those 'drop in' harness kits that are supposed to save you work?

2 comments

graceblack•9d ago

Guy at the shop showed me what happens with bad coax crimps on a 737

Last month we had a plane come in with intermittent COM1 issues, and the young guy swore it was the radio itself. I told him to check the BNC connection first, and sure enough the center pin was barely hanging on from a bad crimp job someone did. That little mistake caused three hours of troubleshooting before we finally traced it back to a $2 connector. Why do so many guys skip using the correct die for RG400 crimps? I've seen this exact problem five times this year alone. Has anyone else caught a similar issue that saved the shop a ton of time?

c/avionics-technicians

Overheard a guy at the parts counter talking about counterfeit connectors

Warning: cheap crimper almost cost us a 737 last Wednesday

Blew $400 on a 'plug and play' wiring harness that was anything but

Guy at the shop showed me what happens with bad coax crimps on a 737

Snapped a wire terminal inside a connector on a King Air this week

The day I stopped wrapping wires around screw terminals

Why does nobody talk about how important wire labeling is in older aircraft?

Old way of tracing wire bundles vs. new continuity testers - anyone made the switch?

Rant: That week where I chased a ghost fault on a 737 for 5 days

Hit 1,200 connector pins re-pinned this year and my fingers are done

Appreciation post for the old Korry switch tester at our shop

Pinched a wire in a flap actuator on a CRJ-200 at 2am

That week in September when every single connector I tested passed on the first try in the hangar near O'Hare

Found a cracked solder joint on a flight control computer last Tuesday

Check your bond meter before relying on it

Stumbled on a stat about old ARINC specs that made me feel ancient

Blew $300 on a faulty wire harness tester last month

Hot take: the panel screws on a Cessna 172 don't need to be torqued down like a lug nut

That $200 cable tester that saved my butt on a King Air job last month

Overheard a new guy say "avionics is just plug and play" and had to walk away

Why does nobody warn you about the new crimp connectors on Cessna 172 harnesses?

Heard a senior tech say "just follow the pinout" and it clicked

Just found out how much a DME antenna actually costs new

Spent $75 on a digital torque adapter for the panel and it saved me a redo

Can we talk about this bad habit with ground loops on the bench?