Vent: A stubborn Cessna 172 nose gear microswitch took me three days to trace

I was sure the gear warning horn issue was a bad relay, but it was a tiny, corroded microswitch buried behind the panel. My mentor, Frank, finally said, 'Stop looking for the big failure and check the little click.' It took me two full shifts just to get to it and another half day to replace and retest. Anyone else have a 'simple' squawk that turned into a week-long hunt?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavina731mo ago

My buddy's Mooney had a similar gremlin, a bad ground wire that took four days to find.

adam_thompson531mo ago

Four days hunting a single wire sounds like a special kind of torture, @gavina73. I would have lost my mind after the first day. Those hidden ground issues are the absolute worst to track down.

sagew5022d ago

@gavina73, the "took four days to find" part hits way too close to home. I spent a whole weekend chasing a similar ground issue in my Cherokee, and it ended up being a wire that LOOKED fine but was corroded inside the insulation. Ground faults are pure evil, they make you question everything you know about wiring.