Talked to a salty old avionics tech who said I was overcomplicating my harness builds

So last week I was at a shop in Phoenix picking up some connectors and this guy in his 60s sees me stressing over a harness I was building. He just laughed and said I was treating wire routing like brain surgery. Told me he's been doing this since the 80s and his golden rule is just keep it simple and make sure you can trace each wire with your eyes closed. Said half the problems he sees are from people overengineering things with too many zip ties and tight bends. Honestly it hit me hard because I was spending like 20 minutes per junction trying to make it look perfect instead of just functional and reliable. He showed me one of his old harnesses from a Cessna and it was messy but every wire was easy to follow. Made me realize I was focusing on looks over actual troubleshooting. Has anyone else had a veteran tech give you a reality check like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

diana_king1mo agoProlific Poster

Well that story about the messy but traceable Cessna harness really got me. I would have thought any experienced tech would insist on perfect routing, not encourage something that looks sloppy. Guess I learned today that functionality beats pretty every time.

piperr581mo ago

That harness story really hit home for me too. I've seen enough clean panel jobs turn into nightmares when someone has to trace a wire and can't follow it. Sometimes the messy path really is the smart path, even if it doesn't look like it.