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An old lead tech in Wichita told me to stop twisting wire bundles so tight, and it fixed a problem I had been chasing for 3 weeks
I had a com radio that kept dropping out in flight, and I must have pulled that rack 4 times looking for the fault. The harness going into the connector looked perfect to me, laced up neat and tight like I was taught. A lead tech named Ray watched me for about 10 minutes and said the bundles were so tight they were pulling on the pins when the airframe flexed. I did not believe him at first, but I cut the lacing and gave the wires about a half inch of slack with a gentle bend at the connector. The radio has been solid for 6 months now, and I have relaced every harness I touch since with a little give in it. It feels wrong when you are used to making everything look squared away, but Ray's point was that the wires have to move with the plane, not fight it. Now I catch myself looking at other guys' work and wondering how many gremlins come from a harness that is just too snug. How much slack do you all leave at your connectors, and does anyone have a rule of thumb they actually follow?
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