Old mentor told me to always trust the ohm meter over my gut

Ngl I had this old timer named Frank at my first job at Atlantic Aviation tell me to trust the meter no matter what. Last week I was troubleshooting a nav light circuit on a King Air and I couldve sworn it was a bad relay. But the meter kept showing steady resistance at the switch. Turned out the wire had chafed through inside the harness where I couldnt see it. Anybody else ever get burned by trusting their gut too much?

2 comments

2 Comments

riverm483d ago

Oh man, I gotta push back a little on this one. I've seen Frank's type - they think the meter never lies but they forget the meter only shows what you ask it to. There's times I've read perfect continuity on a wire that was green with corrosion inside the insulation, meter said good but gut said something was off. Gut feeling usually comes from experience you've built up without even realizing it. I'm not saying throw the meter out the window, but I definitely think you gotta listen to that little voice too.

alex_taylor102d agoMost Upvoted

Pretty sure @riverm48 is spot on here actually. That meter reading thing with corroded wires is exactly why I always give connections a good tug before I walk away. Had a buddy who chased his tail for three days on a sound system that the meter swore was good, turned out a screw terminal had stripped plastic inside the jacket but still made contact when he stabbed it with probes. You dont learn that trick from a video, you learn it from having it bite you.