Just lost 3 hours on a bad ground wire I could have fixed in 10 minutes

I was chasing a weird radio static issue on a King Air at KDAL last Tuesday... swapped out the whole comm unit and spent $200 on a replacement before thinking to check the ground strap. Turned out the original ground lug had corrosion so bad it looked like someone dunked it in soda. Now I always check ground connections first before buying parts. Anyone else ever throw money at a problem that was just a $2 fix?

2 comments

2 Comments

leo_black7612h agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you actually replaced the whole damn comm unit before checking the ground? That hurts to read. I feel your pain though, I did something similar on my old pickup last year. Spent like 150 bucks on a new alternator because the battery light was flickering, only to find out the ground cable was just loose at the frame. Tightened it up with a 10mm wrench in thirty seconds and it was fine. Nothing stings more than realizing you wasted time and cash because you skipped the simple stuff first. But hey, at least you know now, and that corrosion story makes me cringe because I've seen that exact same nasty soda-dunk look on old boats.

cole_flores4411h ago

Did you ever get that weird phantom electrical gremlin that only shows up when it rains? I had this old Ford van a few years back that would kill the radio whenever I hit a puddle. Swapped out the whole stereo head unit and all the speakers before I found out the antenna lead was grounding out through a rust spot on the roof. Fixed it with a piece of electrical tape and a zip tie. That tape still holding up three years later, which is way better than most of my "professional" fixes. The worst part is I still kick myself every time I see that tape because I could have bought a decent box of beer with what I wasted on that stereo swap. Electrical stuff just humbles you real fast, man.