Spent 8 hours chasing a phantom static line fault on a G1000 install

Turns out the new shielded cable was fine, but the ground strap on the antenna base had a tiny bit of corrosion you could barely see. Anyone have a better way to check those besides just pulling them?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniel5191mo ago

Try a little dielectric grease on the strap during the next annual.

the_julia1mo ago

Seriously? I've flown with a dry strap for years and never had a static issue that messed with the comms. It feels like one of those things that gets passed around as gospel. I'm not saying daniel519 is wrong, but I've seen way bigger problems get ignored while people fixate on a little strap grease.

shah.olivia23d ago

Read a study once from some university safety department. They tested dry straps vs lightly greased ones on a test bench. Static spikes were way lower with the grease. Like 40% less interference. But yeah, I get your point. Real world flying is different from a lab. I've had dry straps that worked fine for years too. Then one day, random radio bursts on approach. Drove me nuts. Turned out to be a dry strap. Grease fixed it right up. Might not be a "must do" for everyone, but it's cheap insurance. Easy to ignore until it bites you.