I finally stopped ignoring intermittent faults on the GNS 530

Had one in a Cessna 182 that would randomly reboot on final approach, which is a great way to ruin your whole afternoon. I spent two hours chasing a bad ground behind the panel instead of just swapping the unit. Anyone have a better method for tracking down those gremlins?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_rowan1mo ago

82RJ is a serial number I still remember from a Baron 58 that had a glitchy GNS 430 - it would lose GPS signal for exactly 3 seconds every 47 minutes, like clockwork. That kind of fault makes you feel crazy, especially when you're on an approach. I ended up finding a tiny crack in the antenna coax right where it passed through a cable clamp, but it took me a full weekend of swapping units and chasing grounds to get there. Your bad ground story hits home hard, dude - those intermittent gremlins are the worst because they always wait until you're busy or low on fuel to show up.

dixon.james2mo ago

Swapping the unit first is just lazy troubleshooting. Chasing the actual problem is the only way to really fix it.

leo_black762mo ago

Right? It's so much more satisfying to find the real cause. You get it, @dixon.james.

aaron_mitchell2mo ago

Couldn't agree more.