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Chasing a phantom resistor fault for 3 days near DFW airport
Had a 2018 G1000 setup in a C172 keep throwing a pitot heat fail flag after every power cycle. Bench tested the element, checked the breaker, even swapped the relay. Turned out to be a wire chafing behind the instrument panel that only shorted when the plane hit certain temps, took 3 full afternoons and a borrowed thermal camera to find it. Anyone else waste a whole week on a fault that only shows up intermittently? I swear these gremlins are designed to eat our hours.
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baker.phoenix17d ago
Man I read about a similar thing on an aviation forum a while back, some guy chasing a transponder issue that only popped up when the plane sat in the sun for a few hours. Turned out to be a pinhole in a coax cable that expanded just enough when things got warm. Thermal cameras are a lifesaver for this stuff, I keep one in my box now, beats swapping parts blind. These intermittent faults are the worst kind, they make you feel like you're losing your mind.
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