Testing Guidelines
Capacitance and Testing
Unexpected capacitance can cause false failures in your cables.
Think of your favorite car. Drool over the sleek and shiny outside. Marvel over the leather, hand stitched interior. Rave about acceleration and speed. At no point do you think about the cables and harnesses that power the car. You don’t think about wire gauge or type of flux used. No one walks up to a new car and says, “Those are some nice cables.”
Cables might not be the most glamorous part of a machine, but they are crucial to its purpose. Think about the devices you are using right now. Whether you are reading this blog on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer, it takes some combination of wires and components to make the device function.
So much of the world today runs on electricity that we sometimes take our comforts for granted. If a wire were to malfunction inside a smartphone, the owner would be filled with frustration and even panic. It’s the job of those working in the wire processing industry to ensure these feelings don’t occur for this reason.
If your job is to build cables and harnesses, there is an easy trick to use to validate your work. Instead of thinking about the wire, cable, or harness, think about what it will be used for.
- Your cable could help power an aircraft.
- Your cable could help maintain life support on a patient.
- Your cable could help defend a soldier.
- Your cable could help a family wash and dry their clothes.
- Your cable could provide means for a student to travel to school.
Thinking about the good that comes from your work motivates you to do your best. Sure, it still can be hard to see the thrilling side of your work sometimes, but when you realize the impact your work has, perhaps it can put a little thrill back into it.
If you want to ensure your work is meaningful, make sure your cables and harnesses are built right. Check out Cirris’s line of cable and harness testers.
Further Reading: