Before installing an Whelen Orion 500 ACL/Position light on my Cheetah, I checked the operation of the strobes and wouldn’t ya know it, they didn’t work. The funny thing is that they worked fine during the previous preflight so something changed!

Since the fuel pump is on the same fuse as the strobes, a quick hit of the fuel pump switch confirmed the fuse was good so what’s up?

Turns out that where the strobe wire was stripped and inserted into the molex connector had become badly corroded, was arcing and finally pulled itself out. Pulling the seat and assuming the “Grumman Position” made it easier to wire in a bypass. We see this a LOT on the beacon wires where they get hot enough to act like a fuse and melt. The amperage draw of the beacon is reason enough to change it over to an LED or remove it altogether by replacing it with an Orion 500. Remember that the beacon was a factory OPTION and was not required equipment to begin with.

Pictures of the bad wire to follow soon…

Where is this molex connector?

Dean: Probably in the tail near the flasher unit.
Check the parts manual section 33, page 3. I could be wrong.