My Adventure Story
Nice day VFR flight from Kleberg Co. (Kingsville) to Cleburne Municipal, where we stopped for some of the cheapest fuel in Texas. We flew between Waco and the prohibited airspace around GW Bush's ranch (which we learned he has sold) at Crawford, TX.
Then a half hour night flight to Fort Worth Meacham. About 10 minutes before landing the alternator breaker popped. I turned off a few things, turned off the alternator switch, reset the breaker, turned on the alternator and the other things again and it worked for a few minutes, until it went off line while we were entering left base for 34. It wouldn't reset so we landed. When on the ground I was able to reset the breaker and it stayed set as long as the electrical load was light. When I turned on a few more things, it consistently tripped.
The shop found a short in a wire from the alternator underneath the wire guide loop. I hadn't seen it because it was under the loop, but the old insulation must have worn so that while it looked intact it wasn't and the metal band had chafed against the shielding and through the insulation of the wire.
Somehow it took 10 hours to find and repair the broken wire!
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