My old shop lead said to skip the wiggle test on the pitot heat and just check the breaker, cost me a 3 hour delay in Spokane

Sean Foster · 2026-11-04T14:10:04.216479+00:00

Back when I was still pretty new, my lead at a hangar in Spokane kept saying the wiggle test on pitot heat wiring was a waste of time and to just reset the breaker and move on. I listened to him on a Cessna 172 last month, signed it off, and the pilot came back 2 hours later saying the heat never came on during his preflight. When I finally did the wiggle test it flickered right away, so I pulled the panel and the wire at the element had a corroded pin that the ohm check alone never caught. We lost the plane for a full day and the owner was not happy. I get that the test is slow and boring, but I can't figure out how you skip it and still call the plane airworthy. Anyone got a quick method for checking pitot heat wiring that does not eat up an hour?

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My old shop lead said to skip the wiggle test on the pitot heat and just check the breaker, cost me a 3 hour delay in Spokane | Avionics Technicians - HW Forums