Ghosts of avionics past

[Jim K]

Went to the hangar this afternoon to enjoy the weather and do a couple little projects, one of which was to remove the wiring the avionics shop left behind when they removed the old king hsi.

Of course this has turned into a two day project. Ended up basically removing the whole interior. I weighed all the cable I took out and it was 10 lbs. Only 3 was from the hsi. There's probably another 5 under the panel, but it's so tight in there I was afraid to attack it. I just hope I didn't jiggle anything loose.

It's no wonder these things gain weight over the years. Drives me nuts to see cut off wires and dangling connectors knowing that crap is costing me performance, albeit not much. I really wish the avionics guys would remove this stuff while they're in there, but it's obvious that none of the shops that have touched this plane made much effort.

 

[Bill]

You can request removing old cabling when you get the estimate. They will remove it, but it will cost you money. Most pilots are too cheap and just leave the old cruft in the plane.

 

[Ryan Klems]

Unless there are special circumstances (like I'd have to remove some significant structure, or cause something to need to be recalibrated by moving it to get to it, etc), I always remove dead wiring. It drives me _NUTS_ to see it left in there. Even if its stuff the previous person left, I rip it out. It adds weight, it increases bundle size which can lead to interference issues, it makes things more of a pain in the ass to troubleshoot, etc. It's definitely a peeve of mine.

 

[Racerx]

Is this that white wi....nope dead

 

[Jim K]

in my defense, they did say in the estimate they'd remove the old wire.

In their defense, they were squeezing me in before my trip, two of their installers were out with covid, and they were cheap.

 

[Racerx]

in my defense, they did say in the estimate they'd remove the old wire.

In their defense, they were squeezing me in before my trip, two of their installers were out with covid, and they were cheap.

Is the removal language in the bill. I'd knock off a few bucks and say we ran out of time. Maybe you're less of an @ss than me and the overall cost was enough not to complain.

 

[Bob Noel]

in my defense, they did say in the estimate they'd remove the old wire.

In their defense, they were squeezing me in before my trip, two of their installers were out with covid, and they were cheap.

"cheap"?

avionics installation?

(and for the installers out there, I'm not taking a shot at the folks working on aircraft)

 

[Jim K]

Is the removal language in the bill. I'd knock off a few bucks and say we ran out of time. Maybe you're less of an @ss than me and the overall cost was enough not to complain.

It never really occurred to me to check while I was there. I was just happy to have it back before our trip, which we cut pretty close due to the big snowstorm. I suck at confrontation anyway. I plan to go back for a temp probe; I'll mention it and see what they say. I'd be happy if they'd clean up the stuff behind the panel.

They charged $7500, and I got multiple other quotes at $10000, so there is that. One other quote under 8k that I didn't feel good about, and several that didn't bother to call me back.

 

[chemgeek]

When installed my GNS-430 ages ago, I gained 18 lb useful load by removing defunct wiring. It filled a very frighteningly large box. It's hard to imagine leaving all that crap in there. The back of the panel actually looks neat now.

 

[Craig]

When we started the restoration of an A-26, between dead radios, racks, rack support structure and wiring, I pulled probably close to 300 pounds of stuff out of the tail of that airplane. The pile of wire almost completely filled a dishwasher box.

 

[Bell206]

It's hard to imagine leaving all that crap in there.

As mentioned above, it all boils down to the cost of removing the old wiring which a lot of owners do not want to pay for. No matter how trivial. Same goes for those who want new paint but don't want to pay for the stripping of the old paint. It finally got to the point I either itemized the removal, etc. and forced the owner to personally scratch out that work and initial, or I didn't do the work. But I could afford to turn down the work where other mechanics or shops can't. It is what it is.

 

[Domenick]

You can request removing old cabling when you get the estimate. They will remove it, but it will cost you money. Most pilots are too cheap and just leave the old cruft in the plane.

Thanks! I learned a new word -- CRUFT.

 

[Dan Thomas]

As mentioned above, it all boils down to the cost of removing the old wiring which a lot of owners do not want to pay for. No matter how trivial.

They pay for it next time a mechanic or avionics tech has to troubleshoot something. Like Ryan Klems pointed out. Makes future work a real pain.

 

[Bell206]

They pay for it next time a mechanic or avionics tech has to troubleshoot something. Like Ryan Klems pointed out. Makes future work a real pain.

Unfortunately it always seems to be the next owner that gets to pay to remove the old wiring when he upgrades.

 

[NordicDave]

You know how copper telephone wire was invented?

Two pilots fighting over a penny.

 

[wilkersk]

My friend, the flight school owner/operator has me do avionics work for his training fleet from time to time. He used to get all surprised at some of the crap I've pulled out from behind the instrument panel of some of his airplane acquisitions. Now, he just asks if we're going to have to redo the weight and balance.