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Interesting Read. Second hand kits

Ya never know what people will do.

I bet the previous builder cut the harness to get it ti fit through a hole, or thought he would. Hey, I cut and re-spliced - one wire at a time!?!?! It's not modified, It is perfect!

I got very luck with by in-process-kit purchase. I did not know anything from nothing, but looked at the rivets and they were all perfect. Two builders came look at it after it was home and they agreed. Lucky me.
 
one in a million story

This is a one in a million story and it is very unfortunate that the first owner did not inform the buyer of the wire harness modification.

The people at Stein Air are very helpful and have helped me with the Garmin install in my 12. I am building EAB and decided to go all Garmin before Vans decided to offer the Garmin option. I would think that the ground check will now take place on future problems with a wire harness.

I have a good friend that bought a used kit and finished it and saved a lot of time and money.

There will be a lot of kits that are started and not finished for a lot of different reasons, It is bad that the few mistakes have a influence on these used kits.

I hope the next statement don't upset anyone. Building a aircraft is not something that some people should be doing and a person who buys a used kit needs to take his time and look at the build and documentation closely. There are a lot of good kits out there and some not so good.

The wire harness problem is a one in a million story and not easy for a buyer to detect.

I hope this will not stop anyone from buying a use kit. If thinking that a 75% finished kit has no value may stop older person from buying a kit from Van's.

MY view

Joe Dallas



KALEWIS said:
Dgamble and I can attest to second hand kits and "all is done according to plans". Found a few issues while helping a fellow builder.

This is an interesting story from the factory (not our experiences). Sometimes it just makes you wonder why.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/vans-aircraft-inc/the-whole-story/1018578298152542
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Actually. Make it "two in a million". Saw a spliced wire harness in a second hand, not the main wire harness, but a very important one nonetheless.
 
Years of troubleshooting electronic systems (and helping a lot of electronic kit builders out) taught me that you need to check three things in a wiring harness or on a circuit board.
  1. Check continuity between the ends of a wire or trace.
  2. Check for a short to ground.
  3. Check for a short to any other wire or trace.
Skipping any of these checks can lead to a lot of wasted time and frustration.
 
Ditto

This is correct.

Ditto

Joe Dallas


DaleB said:
Years of troubleshooting electronic systems (and helping a lot of electronic kit builders out) taught me that you need to check three things in a wiring harness or on a circuit board.
  1. Check continuity between the ends of a wire or trace.
  2. Check for a short to ground.
  3. Check for a short to any other wire or trace.
Skipping any of these checks can lead to a lot of wasted time and frustration.
Click to expand...
 
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