Am I the only one who had a 737's entire IFE system go dark right before pushback?

Just had this happen yesterday on a quick turn in Denver. The plane was loaded, doors closed, and the whole inflight entertainment screen array just died. No power, no status lights, nothing. The captain was already asking for the release. I had to jump into the E&E bay with a flashlight and my multimeter, sweating bullets. Traced it back to a single loose cannon plug on the main media server rack, connector C204. It must have vibrated loose on the inbound flight. Got it seated, powered up, and did a full reboot with the passengers staring at me from the jet bridge. Took 25 minutes and we went out late. How often do you guys see these big connectors work themselves free? Any trick to keep them locked besides the usual push and click?

3 comments

3 Comments

lewis.mila7d ago

Man, that sounds like a rough spot to be in. Did the connector look damaged at all, or was it just not fully seated?

leo_black767d ago

Yeah, the "not fully seated" thing is a classic. I read a forum post once where a guy spent hours troubleshooting a dead fan, and it turned out the connector was just a millimeter out of the socket. Looked totally fine at a glance. That kind of thing can drive you nuts. Always worth giving it a firm push, even if it seems like it's in already.

the_rowan7d ago

Honestly, have you checked if there's any corrosion on the pins? Sometimes a tiny bit of gunk you can barely see is enough to break the connection. That stuff can creep in from humidity or even just dust over time. A quick clean with some isopropyl alcohol on a q-tip might save you a whole lot of headache. It's a simple thing but easy to miss when you're looking for obvious damage.