Warning: an old timer in Denver told me my wiring bundles were a mess

Honestly, I was working on a King Air 200 about six years ago, installing a new GPS unit. I thought my work was clean because everything was secure. This retired guy, who used to run a shop at Centennial Airport, came by to chat. He looked at my bundle and just said, 'Kid, you're making the next guy's fault isolation a nightmare.' He pointed out how I had power, data, and antenna lines all twisted together, no real separation. I argued it was fine, but he showed me his old manual where they color-coded ties for different systems. I changed my whole approach after that. Now I use different colored zip ties for different signal types and leave way more service loop. Has anyone else had a simple tip like that totally change their daily routine?

4 comments

4 Comments

shane_hayes2mo agoMost Upvoted

Sounds like overkill to me, my bundles work fine and never cause issues. Why fix what isn't broken?

pat_moore2mo ago

Bundles can work fine until they don't. I've seen them cause weird dependency problems that are a nightmare to untangle later.

riverdavis1mo ago

Oh man, that color-coded zip tie trick is gold. I do the same thing now after a buddy of mine showed me a similar system. Went from a tangled mess to something where you can spot the problem wire just by glancing at the bundle. Saves so much time when you're tracing a fault down the line. Simple stuff like that makes a huge difference in how clean your work stays long term.

bettym112mo ago

Ever see a bundle cause a real problem like @pat_moore mentioned? What was the actual failure? Like, did power noise get into a data line and give false readings, or did a chafed wire take out two systems at once? Trying to picture the specific headache it creates.