removed tower to deal with shorts/breaks - but none found. Everything looks fine.

Reinstalled tower, did quick check with SQUETs plugged in before installing temperature stages. Saw the same shorts at breakout box at first, but after unplugging and replugging things they disappeared.

Tower level check consistently shows everything is fine. So if there really are shorts/breaks, it's at SQUETs or striplines or cables. So continuing with installation.