Rant: Wire labels peeling off after 6 months at O'Hare

Had a bundle of labels completely fall off a 737's avionics rack. The terminal heat just cooks them. Now I only use laser-etched tags on anything near the bleed air ducts. Anyone else switch to a different label system?

3 comments

3 Comments

reeseperez9d ago

O'Hare's actually not that humid compared to the avionics bay on a 737 in Arizona.

alice899d ago

Wait, are you sure about that? Arizona heat is brutal but it's a dry heat, so labels usually just get brittle and crack off instead of peeling. Humidity in Chicago actually makes the adhesive break down way faster, especially in that constant temperature swing between the jetway and the tarmac. I had a bundle of labels turn into sticky goo inside a CRJ's nose bay after just one summer at O'Hare, and that wasn't even near the bleed air. The real killer is the combo of high humidity plus the heat cycling, not just the temps.

reese1249d ago

Bleed air contamination is the real wildcard nobody's talking about. A tiny pinhole in a pack valve can dump hot, chemically laden bleed air right on those labels, melting adhesive regardless of humidity. That CRJ nose bay issue could have been a slow contamination leak eating the labels from the inside out, not just the weather.