Debate: Did I screw up by grounding a hot wire in the hangar at KPDX?

I was working on a King Air 350 at PDX last Tuesday night, tracing a flickering comm 1 issue. I touched a probe to the back of the connector and got a spark, so I instinctively grounded the wire against the airframe to kill it. The avionics master chewed me out, saying I could have fried the whole audio panel. My thinking was safety first, but now I'm wondering if he was right. What do you guys do when you get a hot lead you can't find the breaker for?

3 comments

3 Comments

michaeltorres1mo ago

Start by admitting you grounded that wire without knowing what you were doing. You got a spark and panicked, which is exactly how guys blow up $15,000 audio panels. The avionics master wasn't wrong. You could have easily cooked a filter capacitor or fried a MOSFET on the panel board, and now you're looking at a full removal and bench repair. Next time, just pull the battery master relay or find the breaker even if it takes twenty minutes. A little spark won't kill you, but a roasted audio panel will definitely get you fired.

miles_hall1mo ago

And @michaeltorres nailed it, that little spark can turn a simple job into a nightmare bench repair real fast.

paul_taylor211mo ago

So you're saying I should have spent twenty minutes hunting down the breaker instead of just yanking the wire? That's a fair point, I used to think a quick spark was no big deal, but seeing it blow out a $15,000 audio panel in one second changed my mind real quick. Next time I'm definitely pulling the battery master relay or finding that breaker, no shortcuts.