The day I realized I was grounding test equipment wrong for years

I always hooked my ground lead to the closest metal bracket I could find on the plane. Then last month a senior tech walked by and pointed out I was creating a ground loop through another system. He showed me how the resistance difference was throwing off my readings by a few ohms. Now I always run a dedicated ground wire back to the battery terminal. Has anyone else had a basic habit blow up in their face like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

amyb541mo ago

Did you check the resistance on that bracket first?

west.claire1mo ago

Oh man, I actually just watched a video about this the other day. I mean, some people totally skip that step and then wonder why their setup feels off or rattles. I read somewhere that the resistance can actually tell you if the bracket is too tight or too loose before you even mount anything. Maybe it's just me but I feel like checking it first saves a ton of hassle later, especially if you're working with something that needs precision.