I finally understood why my old boss was so picky about wire ties

Three years ago, I was working on a Citation in Wichita and rushed a bundle of nav system wires. My boss made me redo the whole thing, saying 'a clean bundle is a happy bundle' and I thought he was just being a pain. Last week, I was troubleshooting a weird intermittent fault on a King Air and found a chafed wire exactly where my sloppy tie had been. It took me two extra hours to trace and fix what a proper job would have prevented. Anyone else have a 'shortcut' that came back to bite them later?

3 comments

3 Comments

simon2822d ago

Had a similar thing with a fuel line clamp on a 172. Left it a bit loose to save time on a cold ramp day. Next annual, the mechanic showed me the scoring on the line from vibration. That extra minute with the safety wire would have saved a pricey part swap later.

grant372d ago

You said "shortcut," but that was just a sloppy job. A real shortcut saves time without causing problems later.

terry_ellis542d ago

But come on, is a single wire tie really that big of a deal? I see what @grant37 is saying about it being sloppy, not a shortcut. But we've all had a bundle that wasn't perfect. Sometimes you're just trying to get the panel closed before end of shift. A little chafing tape can fix a lot. I've seen plenty of planes fly for years with bundles that would make a purist cry, and they never have an issue. It feels like we make a religion out of zip ties sometimes.