Flat vs ribbon cable for a 737 IFE rewire last week

Had to decide between standard flat ribbon and shielded twisted pair for a cabin entertainment system on a 737-800. Went with the flat cable because it was easier to route through the overhead bins. Saved me about 3 hours of crimping time on a Friday night shift. But now I'm getting some interference on the audio channels. Has anyone else run into this tradeoff?

2 comments

2 Comments

wrenh7910d ago

I mean I ran into the same issue on an A320 install and swapped to shielded pairs just on the audio lines, fixed the buzz without redoing the whole harness.

the_diana10d ago

Oh man the whole shielded pairs thing reminds me, @wrenh79 I had a buddy who tried that on a Cessna 172 once and it worked for like a week then the buzz came back worse. Turns out he didn't ground the shield right on one end and it turned into a giant antenna. He ended up ripping the whole harness out anyway. I always just do it proper the first time now because chasing phantom noise is the worst. Especially when you think you fixed it and it comes back at 5000 feet.