Spent 8 hours tracking a chafed wire in a 737 that should have taken 2

Honestly, I had a bird strike inspection on a 737NG last Thursday and found what I thought was a simple chafed wire bundle near the flap track. I traced the wire for what felt like forever, pulling panels and checking continuity, but the fault kept moving. Ngl, after 5 hours I was ready to throw my multimeter across the hangar because every time I thought I had it pinned down, the resistance would change. Turns out the chafing was hidden inside a wire loom that had rubbed against a sharp bracket, and the insulation was barely hanging on. Took me a full 8 hours to find and repair it when the book says two max. Has anyone else run into a situation where a simple fault turned into a whole shift killer like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabethf853d ago

Feel your pain, I once chased a phantom short for ten hours straight on an Airbus.

the_miles3d ago

Ran into that same kind of nightmare on a 737 once. Turned out to be a tiny piece of wire insulation stuck under a circuit breaker. Took our whole shift plus overtime to find it. Makes you wonder how many other crews just gave up and let it go.