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Heard a senior tech say check grounds first, saved me 3 hours
Last month I was chasing a Garmin 430 that kept losing power randomly. I spent a day swapping trays and connectors before I overheard a guy with 30 years in the Navy say "always check the ground strap before touching anything." Sure enough, the strap at the back of the rack had a hairline crack I couldn't see. Now I start every intermittent power issue by wiggling that ground. Anyone else have a simple fix that took way too long to learn?
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felixm293mo ago
Haven't you ever seen a ground strap fail that looked perfectly fine?
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amy_martin3mo ago
Watch that strap wiggle when you load the system up, not just when it's sitting cold. Did you check it with a clamp meter under full draw to see if the resistance jumps when it's carrying current? Strap might look fine but turn into a resistor once the amps start flowing.
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the_oliver3mo ago
Dude you're totally right... I had a battery ground strap on an old Ford van that looked brand new, no cracks or corrosion at all. But under a full alternator load it started getting warm to the touch and the voltage meter was all over the place. Put a clamp meter on it and the resistance just kept climbing as the system warmed up... turned out the crimp inside the terminal was loose from the factory. Replaced it with a simple piece of welding cable and never had another voltage drop issue again.
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