Figured out I was grounding straps wrong after 5 years on the job

I work at a regional airline in Memphis and last month we had a 737 with a weird static discharge issue. I been checking the grounding straps the same way since I started, just making sure they looked tight and clean. My lead came over and pointed out I was installing them with the wrong orientation. He said the strands need to fan out in a specific direction to actually work right. I had been flipping them around and probably causing more problems than I fixed on a dozen planes. It was a simple thing but nobody ever corrected me before. Anyone else have a basic skill they messed up for years without knowing?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_derek1mo ago

Learn something new every day in this trade, grounding straps are picky beasts.

caseyclark1mo ago

The 8-lug ground plates on those older substation grids are the worst about it. @the_derek, you ever notice how a single strand of copper touching a painted bolt can throw your whole reading off? I spent two hours last week chasing a half-ohm difference on a 500kcmil cable, turned out to be a tiny burr on the lug face. Got to hit those connection points with a wire brush and a fresh star washer every time, no shortcuts.