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Rant: spent 6 hours on a flap position fault in Tulsa, and it was 3 chafed wires rubbing on a rib clip
Last Tuesday at the Tulsa hangar I chased a left flap disagree on a King Air for 6 hours while the crew sat around waiting on me. Turned out three wires in the bundle had rubbed bare against a rib clip right where the loom curves, and every time flaps moved past 20 degrees they'd short and throw the fault. Why do these chafe points always hide in the one spot you can't see without a mirror and a borescope, and does anyone have a trick for finding them faster?
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phoenix21416h ago
Check the flap motor current draw on the next one before you even pull a panel. Chafed wires that short under load will spike the amps right when the fault trips, and you can watch it happen on a meter if you got someone in the cockpit working the switch while you wiggle the loom by hand. Learned that trick from an old A&P who said he stopped chasing wires years ago and started chasing amps instead. Takes like 20 minutes to narrow down which part of the run is bad, then you only pull the panels you actually need. Saves you from tearing half the wing apart hunting a rub point that might be four feet from where you're looking.
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