Serious question, dealing with a weird static issue on a G1000 system

Had a Citation come in last month with a weird, fuzzy static line on the PFD. It would come and go, mostly on climb out. Spent two days checking the usual stuff, wiring, connectors, even swapped the display unit. Nothing. Finally, on a hunch, I pulled the antenna coupler in the tail. Found a tiny bit of corrosion, maybe from a bad seal after a wash. Cleaned it up, resealed it, and the static was gone. The whole thing took about three hours once I found it. It was one of those things you don't see every day. Has anyone else run into a weird fault that ended up being a simple antenna or coupler problem?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade_hunt481mo ago

Ever check the static wicks? Had a King Air where a broken wick was letting static build up and mess with the nav display. It looked like a screen glitch but was just the plane not shedding charge right. Took forever to spot because the wick was tucked up behind a panel.

williamd701mo ago

Yeah, those static wicks are easy to miss until they cause a weird problem. I mean, it's crazy how a little piece of carbon fiber can make the whole system act up. Had a similar thing where the ADS-B was dropping out, and it turned out to be a couple wicks snapped off on the tail. Makes you check them during every pre-flight now, even though they seem so minor.