PSA: Double check that cannon plug torque before buttoning up the panel

Was working on a King radio stack in a Cessna 172 out of Bakersfield last Tuesday. Got the tray reinstalled, all plugs seated, went to power up and got nothing on the #2 comm. Pulled it back apart and found the backshell on the D-sub had backed off just enough to lose pin contact. Took me two hours to chase a problem that was my own doing. Now I always give each plug a final quarter turn with my fingers before I call it done. Anyone else have a stupid mistake like that haunt them for half a shift?

2 comments

2 Comments

johnflores16d ago

...and I'll be honest I've been doing this for over fifteen years and I've never once had a backshell do that. Not saying it can't happen but I bet you were just in a hurry and didn't seat it right the first time. People blame the hardware when really it's the guy turning the wrench. Half these torque specs are just there so lawyers feel better anyway.

hugo82516d ago

John at the hangar next door watched me pull that radio three times before I finally figured out the backshell was the issue. I blamed the tray, blamed the pinout, even blamed the weather in Bakersfield like that makes any sense. Then I found the plug was barely hand tight on the second pull and felt like the biggest idiot in Kern County. Now I check every single connector with a click torque driver set to like 3 inch pounds just so I can tell myself I learned something.