Talked to an old KC-135 guy and now I'm rethinking my whole approach to troubleshooting

Met a retired avionics tech at a shop in Tucson last week who told me he never uses a multimeter first. He said 'start with your eyes and ears before you touch a probe.' I always thought I was being thorough by jumping straight to voltage checks but he showed me how I miss obvious stuff like corroded pins or cracked solder joints. Has anyone else switched up their diagnostic order after a conversation like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaron_mitchell1mo ago

That old Tucson tech sounds like someone worth listening to.

wade2501mo ago

And that "eyes first" approach saves so much time once you actually get good at spotting the bad stuff without guessing.

sagecooper1mo ago

Did you catch the part where he said most experienced guys develop that "eyes first" habit just from fixing the same kinds of failures over and over? I read a piece in an old avionics newsletter that said 90% of faults leave a visible clue before you even plug in a meter.